Traumatized
by Luminesyra
Summary: Everyone always thinks the life of a hero is one of fame and glory. Fans, cheering crowds, the works, but that's only part of it. What about when they get captured? Tortured? What kind of damage does that do? Rex is finding that it has done a lot to the Navajo girl that captured his heart and it's all he can to to help her repair it. (RexXOC) SEQUEL TO ARROW OF TRUST
1. Aftermath

**As promised, here is the first chapter! For any new readers, this is the sequel to my story Arrow of Trust, which I would highly suggest reading first!**

 **For this story, it won't be nearly as action oriented as the last, because I want to focus in more of how the trauma over the years and from recent events has affected them, which is something I don't often see done. Heroes go thought all kinds of physical and emotional pain, that's bound to leave it's mark of the psyche. This will revolve a little more closely around Rex and Kateri's relationship, and hopefully answer any questions I left in the last story(although, feel free to ask them anyways, because I may have missed something, or it may not have a place in this story and I can just PM the answer).**

 **I'll have more at the bottom, I hope you guys enjoy the first chapter!**

 _Smack, smack, thud._

 _Smack, smack, thud._

 _Smack, smack-_

"Son of a bitch." Standing, the girl went to retrieve the little red ball from where it had bounced to across the room when it slipped through her loose grip. Sighing, she set the ball down on the ledge of the window, overlooking the vast, flat desert from several dozen stories up in the air.

Really, it wasn't _that_ bad. It wasn't exactly the apartment she'd had in Arizona, but it definitely could have been worse. Hers was one of very few rooms with a window, and it had taken quite a bit of talking to allow her to get it, the number one condition being that it stayed remotely locked at all times. You know, because everyone can escape out a window that's about ten stories off the ground on a completely smooth wall. It was also directly across from Rex's room, something she'd put up very little fight to. Honestly, it was nice to know that he was only just across the hall, and it had satisfied White's need to have some kind of supervision for her.

She flicked off the shade from the holographic touchpad on the glass, the dark tint fading in less than a second. She closed her eyes against the bright glare, and just simply stood in the warm sunshine for a minute, allowing it to heat her skin. No, it wasn't that bad, but it didn't change the fact that it could feel like a prison sometimes.

She sighed at the soft knock at her door, not even needing to turn to know who it was. "Yes, Rex?"

The door slid aside to reveal the Latino, chewing his lip nervously as he hesitantly stepped inside. That had been another condition, the door stayed unlocked at all times, though she _was_ able to lock it. However, it set off an alarm if it stayed locked for more than thirty consecutive minutes.

"You don't have to act like a kicked puppy, I said you could come in anytime as long as you knocked first." she said, not turning. "You did, so you can come in."

"Sorry, it still kinda feels like I'm invading your privacy to just _walk into_ your room." he said sheepishly, eyes trained on the girl. Though her back was to him, he was still distracted by the golden glow around the upper half of her body cast by the sun. He found her like this frequently, standing out the window. "Um, I just came to tell you that your late for your session with Doc."

Another sigh. "I know, I was hoping no one would notice if I ditched today."

"On Doc's watch? Not a chance." he chuckled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Look, I know you're sick to death of hearing this, but those sessions are to help you, Kateri."

"Yeah, I am kinda sick of hearing it, though it's usually String Bean or Holiday saying it." she said, flicking the ball at the wall once again in a motion Rex was more than familiar with. "It's been almost a month, Rex, they have to loosen the leash as some point, or I'm going to start pulling."

"I know, but I can tell you from experience that you're going to be pulling for a while before they do anything, and even then, it won't be much." he said, moving to sit on the edge of her bed. "And it's been a month since we got everyone out, but you've only been awake two weeks."

Initially, the girl had been in a coma as her body took time to get itself running properly, giving Rex far more anxiety than he ever thought he would have to deal with in the process. She had been very confused and disoriented, but the girl had shed that quickly, asking to see her father almost as soon as it clicked what was going on. It played through his head in perfect clarity, something he wished he could just erase…

(*)

 _Rex had refused to leave the room, regardless of what anyone said or did, even deaf to White's, ultimately hollow, threats. That being said, he was the first to know when the girl stirred, thirteen days after the lab had gone down. Now it was a massive sinkhole that conspiracy theorists were just tearing apart._

" _Kateri?" He was at her bedside almost instantly after she shifted and let out a soft murmur._

 _Her head lolled back and forth a couple times as her eyes slowly began to blink open, revealing the soft green to Rex for the first time since the facility. "...nngghh..._ t'aa shoodi _,_ da'alzhin _, not now…" Her voice, although rough and scratchy from disuse, had a sharp tone to it, as if she was speaking to someone she did_ not _want to see._

" _Kateri?" Rex sat on the edge of her cot, waiting for her to come to her senses enough to recognize him. She blinked a few more times, reaching up with her right hand to clumsily rub at her eyes...oddly clumsy, it was almost as if she couldn't find her own face._

" _Hnn, Rex?" she hummed. "Wh-Where 'm I?"_

" _Shh, relax, you're safe." he said, pushing lightly against the tops of her arms since her shoulders were still wrapped in bandages. He reached over and pressed the call button on the table beside her to alert someone that she was awake._

" _Rex, what's...going on?" she asked, trying to sit up, but the Latino's grip was firm._

" _Stay down, you're pretty messed up. Let Doc take a look at you before you start moving around." he said, keeping his voice quiet and even. Holiday had told him to keep her calm and still if she woke up while he was there, something pretty likely since he never left._

" _Doc, who's…" He could practically hear the click in her head when the pieces of what had happened fell into place. Her eyes became distant and she leaned back without protest. "Where's my dad?"_

 _Rex remained quiet, eyes falling to the ground. "He's...getting help."_

 _An elusive answer and they both knew it._

" _Is he awake?" the continued, too tired to snap at the other teen to give her straight answers._

" _No."_

" _Is he okay?"_

" _..."_

" _Rex, please don't do this." she asked, her voice a whisper. "Don't give me these half baked answers and half truths, I really don't have the energy for incomplete answers."_

 _Before he could answer, Holiday walked into the room, a clipboard in her hand. "You're awake."_

" _So I've noticed. I take it you're the infamous Doctor Holiday?" she asked._

" _The one and only. You seem to know who I am, but I don't know much about you." the woman said, walking closer and fiddling with the machines she can connected to._

" _I don't believe that." Kateri said matter-of-factly. "If you're half as smart as Rex led me to believe, you've dug up every single thing about me you could possibly find."_

" _There wasn't much." Holiday said, not bothering to deny it. "Everything about you was buried deep, and there's almost no record of you even existing after the age of eleven. Miss Begay, you've proven to be very elusive."_

" _I don't know if a sorry is the right thing to say here or not." Kateri told her._

" _Then start with one for the mess you got one of Providence's best into." the older woman said with a stern tone. "And you'd better have another good one for all the worry it put everyone through around here."_

 _Guilt weighed heavy in her eyes and she looked down at the sheet tucked around her body._

" _Doc, maybe ease up-"_

" _No. I'm not going to just wait by until she's feeling 'up to' explaining this." Holiday's own green eyes turned to Rex, eyes still filled with enough hurt and pent up frustration that Rex felt about two inches tall. "You were_ gone _for fifty seven days, and I only heard from you once, a text, that didn't do anything but tell me you were alive."_

" _I'm sorry Doc-"_

" _You have Noah lie for you, which lasted all of two days, I might add."_

" _Doc-"_

" _And when we_ do _finally find you, you've been down in this underground lab that no one knew even existed, much less what was going on, bleeding and injured. Then, you turn around and go_ back _into it to go after this girl, the one who got you into this whole mess in the first place, coming up in near hysterics because-"_

" _Stop."_

 _Rex and Holiday both looked over at the Navajo, Holiday speaking first. "Ex_ cuse _me? You aren't in_ any _position to be telling me to stop."_

" _You're right, I'm not." she relented, still refusing to look up. "But don't take that out of him. He went because of me, because I asked him to. I'm the reason he was gone and I'm the reason he got hurt."_

" _I'm also the reason you're alive." he cut in. "You would have died down there."_

" _Maybe I would have, but that doesn't excuse what I put everyone else through. I'm not dead, and I'm not going to let someone else take the fall for my actions." She finally glanced up, locking eyes with Rex for a moment before looking over at Holiday. "So don't stand here and yell at him for things that are all on me. He doesn't deserve that."_

" _Rex, can you leave us for a bit?"_

" _But-"_

" _Twenty minutes."_

 _He didn't respond for a moment, then just turned and walked out of the room._

" _So." Holiday began once he was gone. "You took quite a beating."_

" _I guess."_

" _You could have gotten him killed." There it was, right to the point._

" _I know. Don't think I don't."_

" _He cut communications with us so we wouldn't follow him. You knew that he had people that cared about him, that would go looking, but you let him shut us out anyways, just so he could help you."_

" _I don't need you to tell me about the selfishness of it, I promise I've already thought of it first." she said bitterly. "Let me make something clear, I don't_ like _other people having to step into the line of fire with me, and you bet your ass I wouldn't have asked him or anyone else if I had another choice. But you saw how many people we saved, how many lives were at stake that were saved."_

" _The lives of many are worth more than one, right?"_

" _Only if the one is mine. Otherwise, no, I don't think so." Especially not his._

" _Then why ask him?"_

" _I...hadn't intended to, but the things he can do would be something that could make or break it. They_ were _. If not for him, if not for any one of them, we would have failed." She licked her lips, chewing the chapped skin. "But I wasn't trying to just drag him to his death, it that's what you're thinking."_

 _Holiday hadn't, people don't try to get someone killed on a rescue mission. "I'm not happy with you. Before I got that call from one of your friends, I'm assuming he was, I didn't have a very high opinion of you whatsoever, the best thing I could say about you being that Rex seemed to have some degree of trust for you. Even after that, I may not have helped you if Rex hadn't carried you on board, practically begging me to do something."_

 _Kateri's eyes slid closed, those words hurting her more than anything. "I'm so sorry for that. I can't even imagine-"_

" _You have a lot to be sorry for, but nearly dying isn't one one them, and it wasn't something I was going to let happen, not after what I saw with Rex. He's got a thick skin, it takes a lot to push him to that point. He really cares about you, and I'm not going to let him get even more hurt over petty feelings. Regardless of how I feel about the situation, I'm not going to just leave someone to die, even after all that."_

 _Kateri remained silent._

" _I think this it's best this conversation take a break, your stress levels don't need to get too high." Holiday said, putting her clipboard down and beginning to get supplies to change her bandages._

" _Yeah." she said numbly._

" _You're a very stubborn young lady, you know." Holiday said, writing down more numbers from the machines connected to the girl. "There were several times that, honestly, no one was sure if you'd pull through. A normal person wouldn't have."_

" _I'm not exactly normal." Her next words were mumbled. "Not exactly a lady, either."_

" _No, you aren't." She moved to slide as arm behind the girl's back, carefully helping her sit up. "But then again, most normal people haven't been tortured like that, so I'm sure you're pretty resilient."_

 _The archer's fingers trailed over a few of the scars on her side absently. She was wearing a sports bra so Holiday had easy access to all of her wounds. Her shoulders were nothing but tape and gauze that hurt every time the moved in the slightest. But then again, just about everything did._

" _Probably gonna regret asking, but how bad is it?"_

" _Well, for starters, your shoulders are healing remarkably slowly on an external level, it took two days just to get the bleeding to stop. You lost quite a bit of blood, but we got it under control. A few of the tendons have been cut in your left shoulder and those are going to take some time to heal, though they seem to be healing at a regular pace for some reason. It's going to affect your motor skills, so keep the physical strain to a minimum."_

" _What is it going to affect, exactly?" she asked. "Is it a 'can't pick stuff up' kind of bad, or a 'fingers don't bend right' kind of bad?"_

" _Both are close, actually." Holiday replied. "The tendons are connected to the ones in your arms, and while those are intact, the tension is gone. Your fingers wouldn't have much pressure if you closed them, so holding things will be difficult for a while. It will take about ten weeks to fully heal, so I'd say keep any kind of physical activity to a minimum."_

" _If that's true, how was I able to shoot my bow?" Kateri asked. She remembered having a hard time keeping hold of her bow, but hadn't thought much of it._

" _Assuming you're right handed, I would think it's because you didn't need as solid of a grip on it, but I couldn't tell you for sure. Adrenaline can work miracles." she replied._

" _What about the others? Are they okay? Is Alice doing better? Is...Is my father…?" Questions tumbled from her mouth one after another._

" _She's fine, she woke up a few days after she got here. After a little tinkering I managed to get her stabilized and reverse some of the effects of whatever was done to her. She's still here, you know, recovering, so is Kira. The others were released, though, once I'd disabled the disks. They couldn't be safely removed, not fully, but I gutted them so they can't ever work again."_

" _That's good-wait, you said you reversed it?" Her brain came to a screeching halt._

" _Don't get too excited, I couldn't fix her nanites, or yours." At her shocked look, Holiday elaborated. "Rex told me what happened. Because of that be had to be careful what we hooked you up with, and that's why you don't have a heart monitor. Acrylic or ceramic needles, polymer braces, nothing metal."_

" _Braces?"_

 _She nodded. "Your left ankle has a hairline fracture, likely from when you kicked Rex back. He told me it had been injured before then as well and was probably still fragile."_

" _Great. So I'm still stick as this walking spark plug_ and _my ankle is messed up again. Fun." She leaned on one of her hands as Holiday unwrapped the gauze from her shoulders. "What about my dad?"_

 _Holiday was quiet for a moment. "He's...not good. We have him stable, but his diaphragm collapsed. Whatever hit him had some kind of acidic venom that ate away at the muscle and we couldn't stop it before it couldn't support his breathing anymore. He's on a ventilator and has been in a coma ever since he got here."_

 _The girl had become stiff beneath her. "Is..Is there even a chance?"_

 _Realistically, no, and Holiday got the feeling she knew that before she asked. "It's possible he could wake up and live out his life attached to the ventilator, but he'll never be able to breathe on his own."_

 _Kateri just nodded._

 _Pulling away the last of the gauze, the Native American girl turned to look at the wounds. Honestly, the scars would be small, the six on the back of her shoulders getting lost in the others. Stitches held the skin together in a suture less than two inches long, but the flesh was still bright red and stung._

" _You're on a few painkillers, but we didn't keep the too high while you were under. We'll up the dosage now that you're coherent." Holiday told her, dabbing at the wounds with antiseptic._

" _Don't bother." she said, looking at her hands. There were a few red patches, probably healing electrical burns, but they seemed to be healing remarkably well. "It's just pain, I don't need it."_

 _Holiday raised an eyebrow. "You have eight deep punctures in your shoulders, a resprained ankle, over three dozen other cuts on your body, internal bruising everywhere else and all kinds of hyperextended muscles. I'm surprised you've got the composure you do."_

" _I've felt worse. This is nothing." she said, picking at a loose thread on the blanket. "Have you ever been shocked, I mean_ really _shocked?"_

 _Holiday hesitated, then went back to wrapping and taping gauze.. "No, I suppose I haven't."_

" _Every nerve in your body,_ every last one _, turns into its own nuclear blast, like acid someone boiled in the sun. You aren't sure if you're melting or burning alive from the inside out. No sight, no hearing, only red and white until it's all black. Pain is insignificant." She tugged the thread free from the blanket with two tiny, muffled snaps. "After wishing you could go back to the torture, because it was almost_ pleasant _, getting to a point you're not sure if you're even alive or dead anymore…"_

" _You almost were."_

 _They both turned to where Rex stood in the doorway. "Twenty minutes are up."_

 _He and Holiday seemed to have a silent conversation for a moment before the woman nodded, gathering her things and quietly leaving._

" _I almost was what?" Kateri finally asked, breaking the silence._

" _Dead." He sat down beside her bed, fingers laced and looking at the floor. "For three days after you got here, your heart would just...stop sometimes, and no one knew why. You kept going into cardiac arrest and Holiday said if it didn't stop soon, your heart could just collapse. It finally did, but your pulse is too fast and there's a possibility it could happen again."_

 _Brows furrowed, she lifted a hand to her chest, feeling that her heartbeat was, indeed, much faster than it should have been, as if she'd been sprinting moments before. Rex's eyes stayed on the floor as he kept talking._

" _When all that electricity was running through you, it made your heart stop. If I hadn't gotten you out when I did…_

" _Rex." He finally looked up at her, this time her eyes clear and aware. "I'm alive. I'm alive because of_ you _. Nothing you told me is going to change, so dwelling on it won't solve anything now." She reached for ward and took his hand, ignoring the spasms of pain all over her body, and laid it on her chest. "Look. My heart is beating. I'm okay, I'm right here in front of you, and I don't plan to go anywhere."_

 _She felt the slightest tremble in his hand. "I was so afraid. You weren't moving, weren't breathing...I thought I was too late."_

 _The shake to his voice was like a hot, rusted knife right to her soul, and her vision began to swim. "But you weren't. You were the hero, just like you're supposed to be."_

 _He watched as one small drop slid from her eyes, falling onto the red and orange sleeve of his jacket, before vanishing. He stood and carefully slid next to her, wrapping his arms around the wounded girl, who seemed so small in that moment as she just leaned into his chest, the light scent of bananas wafting over her. He stroked her hair with one hand, the motion soft and soothing._

 _Her next question made his stomach sink. "Where are Ema, Salem and Abe?"_

" _I don't know." he finally said. "No one's seen them since that night."_

" _Did they make it out?"_

" _I don't know." he repeated. "But Providence has been crawling all over where it was, and the one in Arizona, and no one's found them so they could have. If anyone could have made it out of there, it would be them."_

 _She nodded. "Thank you."_

" _For what?"_

" _...everything. Trusting me, helping me...saving me. You saved my life. If that's not a hero, I don't know what is." She shifted a bit, leaning into his chest a bit more._

" _Maybe I don't want to be a hero to you. Maybe I just want to be a friend."_

 _The dam broke and tears flowed silently down her cheeks. "Right now, I just don't want you to let go."_

He didn't. Rex held the girl until she fell asleep in his arms, and even after that, he didn't let go.

 **So yeah, most of this was a flashback. I hadn't intended for it to be so long, but as I kept going, I quickly realized it wasn't something I could cover in a few paragraphs, but I also didn't want to have that be the starting point so I could skip past the boredom of her being in intensive care for several chapters.**

 **But like I said before, this won't be quite as action oriented because I think it needs to dig little deeper into the PTSD and other mental trauma people suffer from leading those sort of lives. That being said, I promise this isn't going to be just fluff and therapy, I like to think this story will still be plenty interesting.**

 **Please leave me a review and tell me what you thought, and any other questions you want answered in this story(even if you already think it's something I'm going to include, I don't like doing the things people expect:))**

 **Thanks for reading, I'll see you all next Tuesday!**


	2. Open Skies

**It's a little late, but it's still Tuesday, so I'm on time. I almost forgot, honestly, if it weren't for my friend texting me as well(I was PMed this morning too)I've just had a lot of really stressful stuff crop of recently that I'm having a hard time dealing with, but I'm doing my best to keep up with my writing because it's kinda therapeutic(in a twisted kind of way, because I always know my character's lives are gonna be way more fucked up than mine, even if that's at my own hands).**

 **Anywhoo, I'll quit babbling and let y'all get on with the story.**

"You're late."

Holiday glanced over at the girl as she walked into the office, plopping down on one of the plush chairs.

"I am aware, Rex has informed me too." she said.

"You do understand that these sessions-"

"Are completely for my benefit, that PTSD is a serious mental condition for one with the mental trauma I have sustained and that you're here to make sure the psychological trauma doesn't affect me too seriously." the girl cut in. "I have heard that every time we have talked for the past three weeks."

"Then you know that being psychologically traumatized is very serious and you'll start taking it like it is." she said.

"Can we go outside?"

"I-what?"

Kateri leaned forward, looking the closest to excited Holiday had seen the girl. "Can we do this outside? I'm so sick of being in this whitewashed building."

Not a bad idea, really. "Sure, but no running off."

The comment earned her an eyeroll. "Right, because I'll be running anywhere on a sprained ankle."

"Yes, you would." They both knew that if Kateri _wanted_ to run on the ankle, she very well could. She'd walked in with only the smallest of limps, thought Holiday knew that she was downplaying it. Pain was pain, some just handled it better. The woman was glad she was at least wearing the brace, though.

"Either way, I'm not going to. It's not like I have anywhere to go or someplace I'd want to be over here." she said, standing. "So can we?"

It was generally warm year-round at Providence, given how close they were to the equator, and it was at least seventy five degrees. "I don't see the issue." Holiday grabbed the girl's file and led her out the door.

She ended up going to an old landing pad that was rarely, if ever used. It was sunny and quiet, a good place. The girl immediately let herself fall to the ground, laying with her arms stretched out in the sun and closing her eyes. Holiday smiled and sat cross legged near the girl. Not long after she'd woken up, the girl had taken to wearing just a bit of makeup, more out of boredom to kill time, having to so downtime on her hands. Now her eyes stood out a bit more with a thin flick and the dark circles under her eyes were much more difficult to see, something that Holiday was slightly put off by because it made it harder to tell if she was sleeping like she was supposed to. "So, how has your rehabilitation been going? Have you been keeping up with your physical therapy?"

"For the most part." she replied. The questions were standard, and she'd gotten used to having to answer them. "I slack off a little with the core exercises. In my defense, as an archer, I don't really need them."

"Maybe not, but you should beep up the routine while you're recuperating." Holiday said, writing notes on her paper. "What about the movement?"

"It's been getting better, but I still have a hard time catching things." she replied.

"What would you be catching?" Holiday asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's kinda boring in that little room, but don't get all bent out of shape about it, I bounce a ball off the wall. Sometimes I can't catch it." she said.

"That's actually a good way to exercise the muscle, keep that up." Holiday said. They ran through the other questions on her list about her recovery, the older woman being rather pleased with the responses she got. The girl was doing very well as far as her physical therapy went, doing her routines like she was supposed to to help the healing along. "You know, Charlie said she might visit today."

The redhead, along with Willow, would drop by the Providence base sometimes. None of the captives had a life to return to and had been offered to train in the Providence boot camp. Many of them had taken it up, including Charlie, Willow, Jordan and several of the other able-bodied ones. The rest were taken to wherever they asked to go and left to make what they would of themselves.

Charlie would visit on the one day a week they were given off, really just to say hi and see everyone. Despite how loud and brash she was, the ginger was really a very friendly woman and wanted to get to know the people who had freed her a little better.

"Cool, she seemed pretty excited to see me last week. Maybe this time I can escape another bruised rib." Kateri said.

"It was the first time she'd seen you awake, give her a break." Holiday said ruefully, then slipped into a slightly more serious demeanor. The girl was extremely cooperative with her physical recovery, but had been more difficult with her mental one. "So, have the nightmares been getting worse?"

Kateri clammed up a bit at the question. "No. Haven't gotten any better, either."

"Do you want to talk about them, maybe describe what happened? See if we can figure out why you're having them."

"Not exactly, no." Her mouth turned down a bit. "And I'm pretty sure we know why I have nightmares."

"Yes, but certain events may be triggering them. If we can find out what it is, then we can go about negating them." Holiday said.

"That won't work. You find one, there's another one in line. Doctor Holiday, I have over six years worth of bad memories to create nightmares, and a few more of good ones that can twist into bad ones. I'll be dead before we could possibly get through all of them."

"Then let's get through the worst of them." the woman began. "Do you have nightmares about being down there, or about your father? Your friends? Rex?"

Kateri's eyes opened and she sat up, looking at Holiday. "Why do you want to know about them so bad? I'm sure there's a dozen other things you can pick my brain for."

"Because sleep is when you have the most raw connection to those emotions and where they're most heavily reflected in dreams or nightmares. Things are rarely insignificant in them and can really help with finding the root of the problem." she replied cooly, meeting Kateri's gaze. Green on green, one pair soft and muted, one brighter and more vibrant

"All of them." she finally said. "They change a lot, so I've seen just about everything."

"Which are most frequent?" Holiday asked, beginning to get somewhere.

"...I don't want to talk about it. Not now." she said, tone implying she might at some point, but now wasn't it.

"Do you talk to Rex about them?"

Kateri's eyes shot to her face. "...sometimes. Why?"

"I just want to make sure you're not bottling them all up. Since you're talking to someone at all, I'll leave it alone for the time being." she explained.

"...okay."

Kateri and Rex's relationship was complicated to explain if someone didn't know anything about it beforehand. Rex didn't want to push anything because he knew that her mind was in a fragile state and he didn't want to burden her with anything she didn't need. That being said, what they had wasn't exactly strictly friendship, either. Nothing romantic was pursued, but the feelings were there and they both knew it. Instead, what Rex did was make sure that he was there for the girl whenever she needed him, even if she didn't realize it at the time. He was her sole confidant, the one person she didn't hide anything from, or if she did it wasn't for long. Kateri leaned on him far more than she would ever admit to anyone, including herself, but the Latino had become an enormous support system for her. They had a close bond, but there wasn't any pressure on the archer from it.

The state of their relationship, not exactly romantic but not platonic either, was one that was working for the girl and helped more than she realized with her mental recovery.

"Alright, what about the the electric spasms?" Holiday relented. She could tell the girl didn't quite trust her to tell her about the nightmares. She knew that Kateri would frequently confide in Rex, but the Latino refused to tell her anything and break that trust, something Holiday respected.

"I still get them when I wake up, but that's it and they're normally not that strong. They don't happen at random hardly at all anymore since I expended so much energy at once." she replied, some of the tension in her body fading. She leaned back against the pavement and closed her eyes once again. "I don't know if that means I just let out enough that they haven't recharged and it's gonna happen again, or if they have just settled a little and aren't agitated. Still a walking phone charger, though."

Any tests Holiday had attempted to run only resulted in her nanites messing up whatever equipment she used, and very little had been learned about them.

"Have you exhibited any better control over it?"

Kateri shrugged. "Not really, though it's not like I've been trying all that much. If it gets to more power than a toy shock pen it starts using my body as a conductor."

"How do you know that?" Holiday asked, intrigued.

"I can feel it. On a low level, it's just external, like I'm just moving around the existing static in the air. But once it gets too high, my nanites start to produce thier own current, which at that point it starts shocking me, too." the archer explained.

"Hm. So you can control when they start to produce their own current?"

"To some degree, I guess. Once it gets going, though, I have a hard time controlling how much it puts off, so it just gets to be more and more. Well, unless I want a high output at once, which I can do almost immediately." she said.

She didn't need to tell Holiday that she had found his out when she'd shocked herself.

"Kateri, do you feel trapped inside of Providence?" Holiday asked.

She looked over at the Doctor. "That's a little random."

"Not really. It's just something I can't say I put much thought to, but your comment about being sick of the building made me wonder. You stay in your room all day and Rex has said that you're usually looking out the window when he comes in there."

"He did?" Her eyes were a mix of curious and wary.

"Not on purpose, he hasn't been talking about you." she said, waving off the girl's suspicion. "You seem a little more relaxed sitting out here, so I thought I would ask."

"I'm not sure." she replied after a minute. "I mean, I know that I could probably leave if I wanted to. I'm not being held hostage and I don't think a whole lot of people would be all that worried if I did except Rex and maybe you." She moved to fiddle with her hair, taking a small section of it and braiding it, something that had become a tic of the girl's to keep her hands busy without needing a tight grip. "But at the same time, it's like I'm tied to this place. Like I have to come back even if I leave. That, when I gave back all those people thier freedom, it took some of mine."

A few birds flew by overhead, and Holiday noted there was almost a look of longing in her eyes.

"You know, I think I'm going to cut off early today." Holiday said after a moment. "Also, I've talked with Six. I'm considering starting you on a daily training regime with him, to keep you in shape and to help with your physical therapy."

"Really?" Kateri sat up again, surprised.

"Is it something you might be interested in?"

"Hell yes, it is _so_ boring in that room. Be nice to feel useful again." she said, standing. "Am I allowed to shoot?"

"Probably not right away, but if you keep up your physical therapy like you've been doing, I doubt it would be long." Holiday said. "You just need to wait until those tendons heal up a little more or you run the risk of making it worse."

"Fair enough." she said, following the slightly shorter woman back into the building.

The archer split off from Holiday, heading back to her room. She idly wished that she had her mp3 player, but it had gotten fried when she shocked the metal EVO's, along with her phone and any other electronics on her at the time. This had included the last taser arrow in her quiver, which had blown up, igniting the three combustive arrows she'd had left. It had left a slight scar on her lower back, but by this point the only mark was the slightest difference in the color of her skin.

Pushing a button to open the door, she slid into the room, the door closing behind her a moment later. Rex usually met her here after her sessions with Holiday, but she had a little time before he would come because they had ended early.

She hadn't done much to make the space her own. Rex had offered more than a few times to take her to her old apartment to get some of her old things, but she'd turned him down every time. She'd said there was nothing there worth getting caught by a vengeful Jessup agent over. What few things she had any sentimental attachment to were either kept on her person or in the lockbox she had, the contents of that having long been retrieved.

It hadn't held too much, her grandmother's wedding ring(meant to be for the woman's son, but she never had one and just gave it to her mother), a sapphire and diamond necklace her father had given her mother for an anniversary, a bottle of her grandmother's ashes, a trifold locket with her parents on either side and her eight year old self in the middle, and an envelope thick with photos.

Sighing, she went and picked up the box that stayed in the corner, the girl never having unpacked it. Whatever had been left behind in the hotel room they had been in had been retrieved. Most of it had simply been given to the archer, but she hadn't gone through much of her friend's things. She felt like it was an invasion of their privacy, and without any proof that they were gone(there still hadn't been any bodies recovered, so she let herself hope that Abe might have gotten them out), she didn't feel right about looking through anything personal of theirs.

None of them had too many personal items, their more nomadic lifestyle prompting them to travel light for the most part. Salem had two sketchbooks, one that was just full of doodles and everyone had seen parts of numerous times. This one she wasn't as reluctant to look through, since the pyro would often show them things anyways. The other was almost like a sketch diary and she wouldn't even consider opening it. The one time she had, Salem had nearly wrung her neck, so the book had remained closed. The pyro had also had a few Zippo lighters, some with their own designs, some having been scratched on by the girl.

She discovered Ema had also had a sketchbook, which was only somewhat surprising. She'd only briefly flipped through the pages, seeing most of them were comic strips doodled in a cartoony style, most of them featuring the genius, Salem, Abe and occasionally herself. Once she'd realized this, she'd closed it and hadn't picked it up since.

Abe had an old Nintendo DS, a few Pokemon games, a ridiculous little zombie apocolypse survival kit in a can and a Minecraft keychain. The items had actually brought a small grin to the archer's face. Typical Abe.

Those along with everything that wasn't clothes, food and medical supplies went into a box and sat in the corner of the girl's room, waiting for the owners of its contents to return. Not having even lifted the lid, she set the box back down.

Flopping back on the bed, feeling a jolt go through her shoulders as she did, Kateri leaned so her face and chest fell in the light the sun cast onto her bed, washing the areas with a soft golden light. She began tunelessly humming to herself, something she found herself doing more and more to fill the silence. She really should talk to Holiday about letting her out for a day to get a radio or another mp3 player or _something_. She'd discovered her debit card was still active since it wasn't attached to Jessup, so she could actually _pay_ for one.

"Maybe Salem and Ema had the right idea, might just take up drawing." she mused to herself. Both of them had picked it up to pass time, though Salem had ended up enjoying it considerably more than she'd expected. Kateri could draw one kickass stick figure and that's about as far as her skill went. "Come in."

The door opened after three low knocks sounded, and Rex stood at the door. He stepped inside the room, leaning against the desk that sat against the wall. "You got out quick."

"Yeah, Holiday let me go from 'therapy' a few minutes early." It wasn't exactly therapy, more like Holiday trying to talk to her as a friend and try to help her mind heal, but it still came off as therapy as far as the girl was concerned.

"Yeah, she called me." He walked towards her a few steps. "Let's go do something."

"Like what?" she asked. Sometimes she did things with Rex, like play a video game in the Latino's room, or pester Bobo(the only thing stopping the monkey from picking a fight with the girl was the fact she was still in recovery from her injuries), but they have never left Providence before.

"I was thinking we could go somewhere." he said elusively.

"Like where?" she asked slowly, raising an eyebrow at his sly grin.

"Nowhere in particular. You'll just have to see." At her skeptical look, he just held out his hand. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." She didn't even hesitate, grabbing his hand and letting him pull her off the bed.

The phrase was becoming akin to an aphorism for the two, which rang a little Fault in Our Stars for the girl's tastes, honestly, but she didn't mind too much. Trust was a very big point for both of them, it had been from the very beginning. To ask if the other trusted them was becoming a redundant question by this point, the phrase used more as a reassurance than as a genuine question.

Rex led her through the halls of the Providence base, some of them familiar to her, but the identical white walls of the building would get confusing to the archer before long. Rex, however, had lived there eight years and knew his way around rather well, and they ended up at one of the docking bays in no time at all.

"Not gonna lie, most of this is Doc's idea." he began, opening one of the bay doors and walking outside, Kateri a few steps behind him. He took a few steps away from the girl to make room for the span of the massive orange wings that sprung from his back. "Said it was getting a little claustrophobic around here."

Kateri's face broke into a grin, something that was rare for Rex to see and it made his entire body warm to see it now. A smile of his own pulled at his mouth. "Seriously? We can just, go?"

"Yeah. She just said you had to stay with me, otherwise, we can go." he replied. A moment later, she threw her arms around the Latino's neck.

"Thank you." she said into his ear. She stepped back and there was a sparkle in her eye that he hadn't seen since long before she'd woken up. "So, where are we going?"

"I really didn't have anyplace in mind, actually, unless there's somewhere you want to go. Thought it would be nice to just fly around." he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. That part actually had been his idea, having remembered how she was always looking out the window.

"No, that's perfect." she said. She stepped forward and loosely wrapped her arms back around Rex's neck making sure that she wouldn't choke the EVO teen. His arms wrapped securely around her waist, his grip firm enough she probably didn't even need to hold on, something he did so very little of her weight was on her shoulders. A moment later, thier feet left the ground and they shot into the air.

Rex glanced over at a sharp intake of air, and saw Kateri's eyes were wide, but she wasn't afraid. Her grin had shifted from one of giddy excitement to exhilarated thrill. The ground dropped away, but she knew she was safe with Rex, that he would never drop her or let her fall.

The wind blew her hair back, the long stream of ink black trailing over Rex's shoulder as the white Providence building shrank away in the distance. She slid her left arm free from the Latino's neck, stretching out to one side and letting the wind run through her fingers for a moment before withdrawing it. The wind was a bit chilly, but his body heat kept her warm as well.

Tucking her head into the crook of Rex's shoulder, the small smile returned as she relaxed a bit in his hold, eyes slipping closed.

"Thank you for this, Rex."

 **Floofy floof. I raked this poor girl over the coals too much(not that I'm done), but she deserves a break. There's a lot of fluff mixed into the first part of this story, actually, so don't start getting all paranoid on me...yet. :3**

 **Anyways, please leave me a review and tell me what you think! Also let me know if there's something in particular you guys might want to see in this story somewhere, like some little scene or some such. I like getting feedback like that, because even though I do tend to write the story for me, I like to try to put y'all's ideas in it, too, and have that interaction.**

 **Thanks for reading, see everyone next Tuesday!**


	3. Girl's Day

**I'm a day late, sorry. There were a bunch of storms last night and my power kept flickering on and off so the wifi was down.**

 **ALSO DO ANY OF Y'ALL WATCH SCORPION. IT'S SO GOOD AND THAT SHOW WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME AND AHHHHH. OTPS, OTPS EVERYWHERE.**

 **Have a chapter.**

Rex paced back and forth on the roof of the building, keeping his tread quiet so he could hear his surroundings. He fidgeted a bit, aggravated as another light breeze ruffled his hair.

"...Rex?"

His pacing paused, as did the movement of his fingers. He turned to the person who had spoken, knowing who it was the minute he heard their voice.

"Circe."

While his tone wasn't exactly angry, his wasn't the most inviting thing, either. He was aiming for neutral, but it came out hard.

The girl's brown eyes watching him cautiously. "I know that the last time I saw you want exactly on the best of terms."

"That's an understatement."

There was the smallest wince at his tone, but she knew he was right to be angry. "I'm pretty sure I'm past saying I'm sorry, but if it's worth anything, I am."

"Is that all you came back to say?"

"No. You were missing. When I found out you were back, I just wanted to see if you were okay." Her gaze slipped to the roof. "Look, I may not be the greatest friend or girlfriend out there, but I still care and I don't want you hurt."

"That's a little contradicting." he commented, but his voice had softened a bit. "You're about a month late, though."

A flash of guilt. "I've sort of been off the grid and I don't have many friends out there, so word travels slow, but I swear I came as soon as I heard."

Rex believed her words. Though she hid a lot from him, it was rare that she'd just outright lie. "Okay, so you see I'm fine. Is there another reason you're here?" He could tell there was, a question that was begging to be asked, but she held her tongue. "Spit it out, Circe."

"The other girl." _Oh_. "I'm not trying to get in your business or throw a jealous tantrum, I'm just curious. If I'm right, she's why you went missing, something you were helping her with."

"I really don't think I owe you an explanation for disappearing out of the blue." he said crossing his arms.

"You don't. But she's obviously important to you in some way if you would do something like that."

"You mean take someone's word when they say they need help with something?" A low blow, and he knew it. "Look, I know you mean well, I really do, but I don't think it's me you should be asking. Her name is Kateri, but I'm not going to tell you more than that, you'll have to ask her. But if you do, just...be careful. She's been through a lot and isn't really in a good place right now."

This time Circe raised an eyebrow, not at what he said, but how he said it. "You fell for her, didn't you?"

His eyes sharpened just the slightest. "Does it matter?"

"I guess it doesn't. I just hope that she doesn't take it for granted like I did." A sad smile passed over her lips. "Maybe it was for the best. I just hope I didn't lose a friend too."

His irritation faded. "I wouldn't count on it. If you need to talk to her, I'll go get her."

The girl shook her head. "No, I've heard enough. I would like to meet her someday, but I don't think this is the time."

"No, probably not." He was honestly glad, he didn't know how Kateri would handle meeting Circe, but didn't really want to have to find out. "But you should. I think you two might get along."

"That would be nice." She stepped forward and tugged the Latino into a brief hug, one that he returned.

He knew a part of him would always care about Circe and consider her a friend, and he'd given her every chance he could. It might be better this way, because at least like this she could still be a part of his life, just not like he thought she would.

"I guess I'll see you around, yeah?" he asked when she withdrew.

"Yeah, you will."

(*)

"Kateri!"

The archer turned from her breakfast(lunch?) to see a flash of a fiery orange just before being swept into a fierce, _almost_ painful hug. Over her shoulder, she could see two more girls, one with long auburn hair wound into a tight bun like Charlie's. The other had mostly black hair with a braid starting from one side of her hairline and going around to the nape of her neck where it was in a small feathery sort of ponytail to hold it back. The hair on the right side of her head, however, was cropped too short to fit and dyed a dark red. Willow and Jordan.

"H-Hey Charlie...getting hard to breathe." she stuttered, and the ginger set the girl back onto the ground. "You brought company."

"I did, the lasses were happy to hear you were doing better and asked to come. It's nice to see you up and walking around this time. Sorry to interrupt your brunch." she said as the other two approached. The three had been handling everything remarkably well, though everyone from the facility would talk to an on site therapist twice a week after training.

"Nice to see you're not dead." Jordan said with a grin, lightly knocking her shoulder with her fist. The girl had gotten several piercings alongside dying her hair, with a stud in her eyebrow and nose and two thin snakebite rings on her bottom lip, repierced from where she'd had them prior to being taken.

"Yeah, it's good that you're getting back on your feet." Willow followed, smiling as well. "Some of us were worried you wouldn't pull through but you're too stubborn to go down that easily."

"Glad someone thinks so." she murmured. "Still wondering how I pulled it off myself. You three the only ones who came?"

"Yeah." Charlie said. "They aren't so much the social type and a lot of 'em are still trying to deal with what happened. A couple wanted to come but they didn't want to overwhelm you."

"Considering you've got two of the loudest ones here, it's a good call." said Jordan. "But seriously, they're super grateful for it."

"It's fine, they're probably right anyways." she said quickly. She didn't think she could have handled more people, honestly. "They aren't obligated to come here, it's fine, really. I still have the letters from everyone."

Shortly after she'd woken up, she'd been given about twenty letters from the captives who had stayed with Providence. All of them had written at least one, but many of them had been from Charlie and Willow. She'd heard more 'thank you's in those letters than she had in most of her life.

"Well, they're all there because of you." Willow told her. "You and your friends broke us out of a literal hell."

Kateri's cheeks reddened and she looked at the floor, fiddling with her fork.

"Ah, you're gettin' her all flustered." Charlie said, sitting at the table across from the girl. Jordan sat down beside the redhead and Willow slipped into the seat beside Kateri. "So where's Rex?"

Kateri shrugged, poking around at the popcorn chicken on her plate. "Not sure, he's out on a mission. Realized I sort of forgot to eat, which is why no one's here."

"How do you just forget to eat?" Jordan asked. "I mean granted, there's a bell for us, but you'd think you'd keep up with that."

"Not really. Never really have much routine in my life before, so it's not something I think of." she replied, stabbing one of the pear slices and biting into it.

"Well, at least you're eating. How's the rehab going?" Charlie asked.

"Alright. Don't have much to do, so that's about all I do in my free time." she replied. "Kinda have a good motivator, since I'm not allowed to shoot until the tendons in my shoulder have healed enough and the tissue is flexible enough."

"You mean the bow?" Willow asked, and Kateri nodded.

"I shoot one with a forty five to fifty pound pull, but I'm not supposed to be holding anything heavier than twenty pounds, so Holiday said no until my shoulder can take the weight without damaging it permanently. But she's starting me on a training regime soon to keep my body in shape and she said it shouldn't be too long before I can start using my bow again, too." she said.

Her bow, along with thirty three arrows and the spare compound had been locked up in Holiday's lab, having been recovered since they were still on her when she was taken out of the facility. There was also the bow from when Rex had originally brought her to Providence, as well as the sixteen taser arrows in her quiver at the time.

"Nice to hear. Maybe you could teach us chavs to shoot sometime." Charlie said with a grin, swiping a piece of chicken from her plate. "Sorry, they keep us on a pretty strict diet, especially us from the labs since we're all underweight and have nutrient deficiencies."

"No, go ahead, I wouldn't have eaten it all anyways. Take what you want." she said, nudging it into the middle of the table. She hadn't had much of an appetite since waking up, rarely eating more that a few bites of anything at a time.

After a moment, Willow also grabbed a piece of the chicken, but Jordan just picked at the fruit.

"Vegetarian. I don't handle a lot of animal protein very well, it'll make me sick." she explained.

"So, you wanna go out?" Charlie asked, a question that she had not been expecting.

"What do you mean go out?" Kateri gave her a puzzled look.

"I mean like a girl's day. You need to get out of this place now and again and I'm sure Rebecca wouldn't mind. We'll keep an eye on you."

"I don't...I mean, I haven't-ugh, I don't know how to be a girl." she huffed.

"Join the sorority." Jordan said. "I can put on eyeliner and that's about the extent of my knowledge of how to be a female."

"Ah, I don't mean that prissy nonsense like getting our nails done. I meant go and see a movie or go rollerskating. Something normal and fun." Charlie reiterated.

"What is normal, again?"

"Oh, now you're just joshing." Charlie rolled her eyes.

"That sounds nice, though. Something normal." she said, grabbing a strawberry from her tray.

"Is it a plan, then?" The ginger woman asked.

"I guess it is."

(*)

"Come on, it isn't _that_ hard!"

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who was catatonic for two weeks!"

Kateri fumbled for the wall as she almost slipped _again_. She was an almost seven year ex mercenary with two different types of martial arts mastered under her belt and good knowledge of two more, had impeccable balance that had saved her life more than once and could walk a tightrope with little difficulty at all. _So why could she not stand in these godforsaken roller skates_.

"I'm telling you, it's easier if you use the in line skates." Willow said. She'd been following Kateri around, teasing her about her inability to move in a pair of roller skates.

"You're telling me that it will be _easier_ to stand when I go from four solid wheels to a line of them?" the archer asked incredulously as she nudged away from the wall, watching her feet as she moved. She did alright if she watched the skates, but it didn't work so well when she couldn't see the people in front of her and would slam into them.

"Yes, because half the time you're falling because you tripped over the skates." The auburnette said. She'd let her hair down from the bun and pulled it into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, in a way that made her look far too similar to Salem. Willow's was more red toned, but it was the same wavy texture. Same olive skin, though Willow's had gotten darker since starting training. They could have been related. "Seriously, just try, it's a lot easier than you'd think."

"Fine! But if I fall more I'm blaming you. Holiday's gonna kill me if I mess up my ankle." she grumbled. The new fracture was almost healed, though still sore, but if she managed to break it again, Holiday would _not_ be pleased.

Willow helped her get over to the rental station, the archer holding her shoulder to she wouldn't fall, and they exchanged Kateri's roller skates for blades. She strapped them on, leaving the one on her left leg a bit more loose, then stood. "...alright, fine, they are easier to move in."

"I told you, you kept hitting your own wheels. You've got the balance, just not the coordination, at least not yet. Even _Jordan_ can use them, and she's a bull in a china cabinet." Willow said as they made their way back to the rink, this time the Navajo having a _much_ easier time moving.

Charlie and Jordan had been racing one another around the rink, the redhead currently having one lap on her because Jordan would trip. They were both wearing in line skates as well, Charlie gliding around easily like Willow, long mane of red curls streaming behind her from where they were let down from the tight bun.

"Yeah, well...shhh." Kateri scowled.

"That the best you've got?"

"Gimme a minute to think of something good."

The two girls began to laugh, and, for a brief moment, Kateri could pretend that she was just a normal girl hanging out friends.

"So, are you gonna do one of the races?" Willow asked.

"Um, no. Doing better, yes, but I don't have that kind of confidence. Besides, there's no way I'm gonna beat you and Charlie." she replied.

"True." she said with a mischievous smirk. "But it's all in good fun, nothing on the line but a free slice of pizza."

"And the chance of another sprained ankle. It's _almost healed_ , and I will never hear the end of it if I fuck it up again."

"Alright, alright, then you can sit on the side and just watch then like a loser."

" _So_ rude."

They rolled back into the arena, Kateri actually being able to keep pace with Willow this time around, although Willow was moving slowly to stay with the archer. The auburnette had been right, once she got used to balancing on them, the in line skates were much easier to use.

"Alright everyone, it's two o'clock!" the DJ called over the speakers. "Who's ready for Blackout Hour?" Cheers erupted from the skaters. "Parents with young children please be cautious as it will be difficult to see."

The lights then shut off and there was a moment of darkness. Then, several neon spotlights, some with patterns in the beam, flicked on and began to run across the floor.

"Hey, watch out!" A pair of teens were headed straight for Kateri, not having enough time to stop. They crashed into the girl and everyone went tumbling to the floor.

A tangle of limbs felt like they were suffocating the girl, and she couldn't see much from the lack of light. Color flashed across her eyes and her gaze darted around, trying to focus on something, _anything_. One of the ones who had run into her, the boy, slipped when trying to get up and fell back on top of her knocking the wind from her lungs.

Blind and now unable to breathe, the strobe light coming on was not a good combination. She couldn't see, couldn't breathe, the lights were flashing on and off and on and off just like before and she still couldn't see and couldn't move why couldn't she see why was it so hard to breathe the lights just kept flickering and oh god itwashappeningagain-

"Hey, get off, get back!"

The weight vanished and she saw a flash of a large, tribal style phoenix tattoo as she was pulled to her feet. Short, dark red undercut on one side. Black hair brushing one shoulder from being let down from its braid. A music stave with heartbeat lines in it tattooed on a wrist. Jordan.

"Kateri, look at me." Honeyed amber brown, rimmed in heavy black. "Focus on my breathing. Breathe with me."

Her shoulders moved. Inhale. Too fast, too much. She coughed.

"What's going on, what happened?" Charlie asked, coming up behind her with Willow a few feet behind.

"Not sure. Someone hit her by accident and she started having a panic attack." Her husky, deep voice sounded like she was speaking into a bucket. "I think we should go."

Charlie and Jordan got Kateri out of the rink, the girl still hyperventilating as her eyes jumped around erratically. Once she was in the brighter light, her breathing began to even out a bit, but her body still coursed with adrenaline and she was still riddled with panic and fear. It took the girl a long time to get her skates unlaced and her boots back on. Her breathing didn't get back to normal until they were back out on the streets and getting back into the van they'd borrowed from Providence.

"You alright, lass?" Charlie asked once she had slipped into the driver's seat. She was the only one who'd had a license before she was taken, therefore the only one allowed to drive.

"Y-Yeah, I'll make it, I just...need a minute." she replied. Her heart was still racing, well, more than usual, but the panic wasn't at the forefront of her mind. She also realized that she'd managed not to shock herself or anyone else, which was good because she wasn't sure how she'd explain it.

"Take your time." she said, starting up the vehicle. "What happened?"

"I'm not completely sure. One minute, I was just fine. Then, they cut the lights and someone hit me. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't _see_. The lights kept flashing and it was just like...like…" Her breathing began to speed back up.

"Hey, shh, it's fine." Willow cut it, unbuckling her seatbelt and kneeling on the floor in front of her. "You're not there anymore, you're here, safe."

The archer could hear Charlie talking quietly from the front, probably telling Holiday they were headed back. Because she couldn't handle it, couldn't handle being out in the world anymore.

Willow was still talking, but she didn't hear anything she said. Probably trying to get her to keep pace with her breathing like Jordan had. All of the ones from the lab had been shown what to do when someone had a panic attack, since many of them would get them from time to time.

"I-I'm sorry." she said after a minute. "I didn't mean-"

"It's fine lass, it's happened to all of us." Charlie cut in. "If you like, it never leaves this van."

"Thanks, but...I have to tell Holiday." she mumbled. "She doesn't give me a whole lot of 'rules', but I'm supposed to tell her about things like panic attacks and when I get anxiety so she can help stop them from happening." The woman had only made it a rule, because if her anxiety got too high, it could speed up her heart too much and there was a chance it could make to stop again.

"Well, then it'll come from you when you're ready." the redhead reassured her.

"I...thanks." she said, leaning back as her pulse's rhythm finally began to slow...well, return to its normal pace.

She was finally beginning to realize that, though she might have lost her old friends and nothing would ever be able to replace them, she might have found a few more in Charlie, Willow and Jordan.

(*)

Rex was still in the hangar when the four girls returned, having been keeping Bobo's fez captive and making the monkey work to get it back(no blasters or the hat gets it). He was a little surprised to see who it was getting out of the van, but when he saw how washed out Kateri's face was and how shaken up she looked, the hat was backburnered and tossed back at the simian.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, jogging up to the girls. "Is she okay?"

Charlie nodded. "Went for a little day out, but it got cut a bit short. Nothing to worry about."

Rex raised an eyebrow. The archer looked like she had seen a ghost and was trying hard to hide it, but she couldn't just throw a facade over her blanched skin and lightly tremoring hands.

Willow could tell that he saw right through the false reassuranced, and shook her head at him before he could ask. Don't ask. Got it.

"Um, okay. At least you got to do something fun, right?"

"Yeah...we went rollerskating." Kateri said after a minute. He could tell that her even, light tone was forced. "It was fun, it just...got too loud."

Rex was quiet, not entirely sure what to say. "Well, maybe next time you can go somewhere a little quieter."

"Yeah, maybe." She glanced around at the three girls. "Thanks for going with me, though. Kinda tired, I think I'm just gonna head back to my room. Sorry for cutting it short."

"We're supposed to be back on base by five anyways, so it's not like we lost that much time." Jordan said.

The three bid her goodbye before leaving.

Kateri just stood there a moment, arms wrapped loosely around her torso before turning and heading into the building.

"So, um, mind if I ask what happened?" Rex asked cautiously, walking beside her.

She chewed her lip a moment. "I had a panic attack. At the roller rink." He didn't speaking, waiting for her to continue. "I was doing fine, it wasn't really a problem. Yeah, it was a little too loud and sometimes people got too close, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. But then...they turned out the lights and someone ran into me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move, then everything started flashing...Rex, I thought it was happening again."

He looked over to see the shaking in her hands had gotten stronger, her knuckles white where she gripped her arms trying to keep her composure, but her face was a smooth, neutral mask. The girl had such a thick exterior it was easy to forget just how badly her mind was fractured.

She paused at the intersection before turning down one of the hallways. "Um, your room is the other way, you know."

"Yeah, I know. I was going to stop by and see my dad." she said quietly. She normally went to go see Yiska at least once a day, but would often go more. He still hadn't woken up, but Kateri was firmly convinced that he would make it. He'd spent far too long in that cell to give out so easily, and would talk to him in hopes he could hear her, could remember her and use her voice to wake up.

"Oh. Okay. I'll,um, just chill in my room, if you wanna stop by, or...yeah." he said awkwardly, stopping at the door to the room. He'd never gone in with her before, he felt that the time she spent in there was between her and her father.

The door clicked behind her as she slipped into the quiet room.

 **A couple things. Yes, I put Circe in this chapter, and yes she'll have a role later on, but** ** _much_** **later on. That being said, I don't actuallly want her and Rex on bad terms. I like her character, and even outside of this fic(because let's face it, I'm OC shipping trash most of the time), I think that, while they'd try to make a relationship work, it just wouldn't, but they'd stay close. I just don't want her to be that taboo character and I don't want her to be that jealous ex nobody likes. Her part is small here, but she'll come into play later.**

 **Also, I'm finally getting more into the actual aftereffects of the trauma. Kateri likes to put on a brave face and act like nothing is wrong because she's done that all her life, but the fact of the matter is that there** ** _is_** **something wrong, but the difference is that thing time there's actually people around who want to help her.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed and please leave me a review and tell me what you think!**

 **ALSO, I'm currently working on another story as well, for Danny Phantom(if you can't tell, I have a problem with kid's cartoons). I don't plan to post anything for it until I've written a good chunk of it and gotten a little farther ahead with this one too(despite still being like 13 chapters ahead now), but would anyone be interested in reading that? If so, I can toss a brief summary of it at the end of the next chapter, or I can PM you if you're interested. But like I said, it'll be a bit before I post it(probably after I graduate so I can put more time to writing) so I don't get behind with this story and so neither of them slip.**

 **Thanks for reading, I'll see you all next week!**


	4. Daily Grind

**Look who's on time!(Only because you had to be reminded to update, don't lie, Lumi). ...shh. 'm bad with deadlines.**

 **Quick thing, if you haven't already, I'd recommend checking out my art blog, tham draws on tumblr! 'm in another Gen. Rex kick and have a couple things posted. I also made a speedpaint of one of them, which is on there too! I'll post a link to my YouTube channel on my profile shortly after this goes up, please subscribe on there because I've started doing them more frequently!**

 **Okay, enough self promo, chapter(this is pure, self indulgent floof for a while, I fee like they deserved a break).**

Rex sat straight up as something yanked him from sleep. He paused for a moment, not entirely sure what it had been, when a loud scream sounded from outside his door. Kateri. He threw back the blankets and slid out of bed, glad that Bobo no longer stayed in Rex's room because of how frequently the Latino got up at night. The monkey had actually volunteered to move to another room, surprisingly not making much of a fuss. Moving quickly through his door and into the archer's room, one of the rare times where he didn't knock first.

The Navajo was curled up on her own bed in a tight little ball, fingers clawing at the flesh on her shoulders and breaking open the thin skin, thin trails of blood dripping away from the reopened wounds. Her entire body shook violently and her nails dug into the injuries again as she let out another loud scream, face contorted in a pain that lay far below the surface. White lines of electricity flickered over her body in random spasms.

"Kateri! Kateri wake up, it's just a dream!" Rex said, lightly shaking her shoulder, ignoring the harsh buzz of the shock. He'd grown used to the sensation in the past weeks, the voltage that her nightmares brought not really that much considering what it had been before, and had become easy enough for him to tolerate. She flinched away from his touch, jerking sharply to the side with another whimper. There were small amounts of blood on the ends of her fingers from where she kept scratching at herself. "Kateri, it's just me, you need to wake up."

He grabbed her wrists and pulled them away from her body to keep her from continuing to shred her skin, clasping them together and holding them a few inches away from her chest. He knew it wasn't the best thing to be doing, but he didn't have any choice if he didn't want her to keep hurting herself. She immediately began to thrash, shoving at him and trying to pull free. " _Kateri, wake up!_ "

A long sharp gasp came from her lips as she bolted upright, nearly smacking her head into Rex's, the electricity shutting off like a switch. Her eyes darted around wildly, disoriented. She registered his grip on her wrists before who _he_ was, and tackled the Latino. They both hit the ground and she ripped free from his grip, lashing out blindly.

"Hey hey, stop, it's me!" He hissed in as quiet a voice as he could, struggling to grab hold of her wrists again to keep from getting hit. Her swings were clumsy and uncoordinated in her daze, and this wasn't the first time she'd attacked him after waking up. He usually just let her knock him down and then he'd restrain her until she came to her senses.

"...Rex?" she whispered as the fog over her mind began to lift. Realizing what had happened, she dropped her arms and got off the EVO teen. "I did it again, didn't I?"

"Yeah, no worries." he said. "Didn't even land a hit, it's fine."

"I'm sorry." she said anyways, sitting on the edge of her bed as she pushed her hair from her face, bangs sweaty. "You'd think by this point I'd know it was you waking me up in the middle of the night."

"Seriously, it's fine, no one's expecting you to get better overnight." he said. He grabbed the first aid kit that was kept in her room before sitting down beside her. "Here, you're bleeding."

"What? Oh. Yeah." she said, only giving her shoulders a curt glance, largely unconcerned over the smeared blood. She would scratch them back open frequently at night. "Sorry about that, too, they weren't exactly healing cuts in my dream."

Rex just nodded, going about cleaning up the ragged flesh. He knew that many of her nightmares were over her becoming an EVO, not unlike the ones they'd found underground, and turning on her friends. After a minute, he noticed that tears were running silently down her face as she trained her eyes on the floor. "Hey, it's okay, it wasn't real. It was just a dream."

"But it could be real. Whatever that bitch did to my nanites...it can't be reversed, at least not that we've found so far. There's still a chance that they could do that to me, a pretty high chance if someone found out I was here." she said, not bothering to wipe the tears away. They were something that happened frequently after she woke up, and she'd gotten past Rex seeing them, knowing that he wouldn't judge her for them.

"It wouldn't matter if they found out if you were here or not, you're safe here." he said, patching the skin back together with a few butterfly stitches. The damage generally stayed to the wounds on the front of her shoulders, the three punctures on her back being too far for her to reach in her sleep. Those were almost completely healed, but the ones on the front side were reopened at least once a week and taking much longer. Fortunately, he almost always managed to get there before it got too bad, so hopefully the scars wouldn't be too bad once they _did_ heal.

"I just...I can't help but feel like it's not over yet." she said, staying as still as she could while Rex worked. She'd tried before to just do it herself, but couldn't deny that his hands tended to be more steady than hers and he could do a better job. "That now that I finally think I'm out of the water, the whiplash is going to hit."

"The whiplash was you being in a coma for two weeks." Rex said, taping a piece of gauze over the cleaned wound before wrapping her shoulder. "Everyone thought it was over until you weren't breathing and your heart wasn't beating. When it kept stopping. _That_ , was the whiplash, and you got past that too."

"Maybe." she said, not sounding all that sure.

"You know, Doc even tried to put a pacemaker in." he began. "She went through your back so she didn't add any more scars. Your nanites fried it before she even got the cut closed up from putting it in."

"Is that what the patch on my back was?" she asked. She'd assumed it was from just another scratch, as there had been many, but she hadn't remembered anything cutting into her back because of her backpack and quiver.

"Yeah, she had to pull it out. After that, she just closed it up and kept a really close watch on your pulse, which was kinda hard since you couldn't have a monitor for it." he said, sliding the unused supplies back into the box and replacing it. "She's still trying to figure something out so that, if it stops again when you're not here, you might still be okay."

He hadn't told her, but his number one fear when it came to the Native American girl was her heart giving out and there not being time to get it going again before it was too late. Holiday had told him that it was very weak, and with her pulse as fast as it was, it wouldn't take too much for it to just collapse. He was terrified that something could happen, a panic attack or a nightmare, that got so bad that it just...gave out.

She didn't say anything, still staring at the floor.

"So, um...goodnight, I guess." Once he'd calmed the girl down, he generally went back to his room.

"Rex." Her low voice made him turn. She chewed her lip, another habit she'd picked up since waking up, having become a bit more skittish. "Could you...could you stay? I-I just...nevermind, it's stupid."

He moved back to the girl's side, sitting next to her once again. "It's not stupid. If you need me here, I'll stay."

He slid a bit farther onto the girl's bed, tugging her to his chest and wrapping his arms securely around her. She didn't resist, instead curling into his side a bit and leaning her head onto his shoulder. She could hear his own steady heartbeat, the soft thumping even and strong, and it eventually began to lull her to sleep.

"Hm?" he hummed when he heard a quiet murmur from the girl. He wasn't sure what she'd said, but it sounded familiar.

"Rex... _ákwíinisin ayóó ánóshí…_ "

She was asleep before he could ask what it meant and he didn't think it was important enough to wake her up for. Instead, he light lightly kissed her forehead and ran his fingers through her hair until he drifted to sleep as well.

(*)

The early morning sunlight hit the girl's eyes, stirring her from her sleep. She generally kept the tint on the window off, preferring to see the land for what it was. She was much warmer than when she normally woke up, often feeling a bit chilled from the sweat on her body, but this time her body radiated with a subtle, comforting heat. Blinking, she realized her arm was draped over something warm as well, and after a moment, she realized it was moving...no, breathing.

Glancing up, she saw Rex's still sleeping face, his body ever so slightly curled around hers with his arms wound loosely around her, the source of the extra warmth. She didn't remember a lot of the previous night, but she did know that Rex had woken her from another nightmare. Her face flushed as she realized he had spent the remainder of the night in her room, but she found herself not wanting to wake him up just yet, not wanting him to move. Right then, with the Latino's arms around her, the heat of his body by hers and the sound of his steady pulse, she felt safe, far safer than she had in...a very long time.

His eyebrow then twitched and he shifted to lay more on his side, grip tightening a bit as he held her closer, tucking his head against hers with the smallest of smiles. She could hear his breathing by her ear, the quiet swish of air as he slept. A smile crept over her face at his peaceful expression, the corner of his mouth twitching every few seconds in a way she couldn't help but find endearing.

She didn't fight it when she leaned forward ever so slightly and softly pressed her lips to his. He woke up almost immediately, eyes popping open for a moment before sliding back shut, kissing the girl back. His hands flattened against her back but he didn't pull her any closer, just holding her. A small part of his brain acknowledged this was the first time she had completely kissed him first.

After a minute, they drew apart, chocolate eyes meeting soft olive. "Morning."

She smiled. "Morning."

"Pretty sure I'd rather be woken up by that than an alarm." he commented with a grin. Kateri rolled her eyes, but her smile remained. "So, what's awk-awkins ayoo anoo...something. Am I close?" She raised an eyebrow. Okay, so no. "You said something last night before you went back to sleep, but I'm not completely sure what you said. Maybe awkinsin? Awkinsin ayoo anoo-something."

"Á _kwíinisin ayóó ánóshí_ …" she murmured, cheeks turning red.

"That's it! Was that Navajo?" She nodded. He smirked at her blush. "Was it something dirty?"

" _No_ , god Rex." she said, blushing even more. But it was just as bad.

"Then what's it mean? Part of it sounded kind of familiar." he asked.

She stared at the wall. "I, um...don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to tell you yet."

He gave her a curious look. "O...kay. Will you tell me eventually?"

"Eventually." she agreed, mumbling her next words. "Not dead yet."

Then it hit him. The last part of what she'd said was the same thing she told him before they'd split up at the facility. One of the last things she'd said to him before everything fell apart, along will a promise she'd tell him what it meant if she made it out alive.

"So, we should probably get up before someone decided to walk it." she girl said after another few minutes. "Because the first conclusion they're going to jump to is the wrong one."

"Yeah, probably." he replied, though he didn't particularly want to _actually_ get up, but he knew she was right. Untangling himself from the archer, he stood up and ruffled his messy hair, sweeping it back in an attempt to make to look somewhat decent(yeah, good luck with that). "Um, not that I'm trying to push the issue, but, after that, what does that mean…?"

She sat up as well, pushing her own hair from her face. "I don't know. I don't know that it means anything yet."

"It's fine, don't sweat it." he said quickly. "Guess that just means we're where we were before."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to lead you-"

"Kateri." He cut her off. "It's fine, I swear. I'm not upset or anything, don't psych yourself out. You need time and I get that. I'll wait."

She just shook her head. "You're right, sorry. I just don't want to end up stringing you along or anything."

"No harm done." he smiled. "I'm gonna go now and put on real pants, since I doubt standing here in a T-shirt and boxers is gonna do either of us any favors."

"Yeah, probably not."

He cracked one more grin before slipping out of her room.

(*)

"You're late."

Words Kateri was sick of hearing, by that point, thought this was the first time it had come from the green suited man. "It's ten o'clock on the dot, I'm on time."

"You're on time if you're early, if you're on time, you're late. Put these on." Six tossed Kateri a pair of thick workout leggings and a fitted tank top with supports at her chest and shoulders, as well as a thin gel brace for her ankle. "Jeans aren't ideal for training. Keep the boots."

"Well sorry, it's not like I've got a whole lot of clothes to go around." she murmured, catching the items thrown at her.

"I am aware, which is why I provided you with those. After today, you'll need to have your own, so I suggest getting some." he said.

She sighed, but held her tongue. She wanted this, and was not about to give the stoic man a reason to cut the training sessions before they began. Slipping into the locker room, she quickly exchanged her clothes for the ones Six had given her, tucking her hair into its standard braid as well.

"First, I want to see where your skill level is at. I will be evaluating what you can do now and, based upon that, start you training on what needs to been improved upon. Holiday has informed me of your injuries and cardiac condition. They will be kept in mind, but do not use them as a crutch." he began, gesturing to the bandages taped to her shoulders. He also knew that she kept scratching them open, so the wounds were raw a majority of the time.

"I don't plan to." she stated. "I asked to be here and I don't intend to screw it up."

"Good. Now, move." Six struck at the girl with an open palm, and she blocked it easily, one arm moving to cover her face while the other caught the fist flying at her stomach. She knew instantly that he was holding back, because the hit wasn't very hard to keep from jarring her injured shoulder. She knew he could have had her on the ground already, if he wanted to, but was testing her abilities. She twisted his arms to the side and kicked out with one foot, but Six was faster, sidestepping and getting behind her.

She immediately tucked into a roll, in doing so dodging the strike that would have hit the side of her neck. She came up facing him in a defensive stance, already moving to block his oncoming strikes.

She used one arm to block his hand, throwing it back and ducking under his arm, she brought up her hand to hit him in the jaw with the heel of her palm, something Six narrowly missed.

"Stop." he commanded, stepping back. "You have an...unconventional fighting style. There are a lot of nods to judo and taekwondo, but you use a number of defensive tactics from aikido as well."

Kateri nodded. "I have a 'black belt' so to speak in the first two and I was working on them for aikido and eskrima."

"Eskrima? An interesting choice for an archer." Six noted.

She nodded. "I know I can't always be fighting someone long distance and I'm too small to always be able to rely completely in skill and strength, because there's always someone stronger. I was learning with the twin sticks, but I use the same basic moved with pocket knives."

"A clever tactic." Six nodded in approval. "Your reflexes are a little slow, but that's to be expected given the circumstances. The mixed style is also a good choice, it keeps you from being too predictable, however, I suggest you put more emphasis on your offense instead of your defense. It's solid enough, but a fight will go nowhere if all you do is block the attacks."

"It's been enough for me to get the upper hand long enough to take someone down or finish what I was there to do." she countered.

"That's not good enough here. If you have the ability, refine it, don't let it slack off in favor of other more honed abilities, or it will become a vice." he said, turning his back and walking towards a door. "Your dexterity and acrobatics are next, then we'll move onto stamina."

He vanished through the door without further comment until his voice echoed over a hidden speaker.

"When I turn on the lasers, I want you to dodge them without letting them touch you."

"Hold up, _lasers_?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"They won't hurt you. You'll be able to feel them touch you so you know when and where you were hit, but they aren't painful."

Nodding, she waited in the middle of the room as a few green beams lit up and began to move towards her. She waited, since they were just traveling in a straight line. She jumped up ducked between two of the beams, nearly just stepping through them. Turning, they began to move, crisscrossing over one another and shifting back and forth. A bit more interesting.

She leapt forward, keeping her hands out in front of her as she leapt through a gap just big enough for her body. She tucked into a roll, taking most of the impact on her right arm, and came up standing.

More beams had been added, these stationary while the others continued to move. A similar move got her through again, however she had to keep her legs close to her body or the laser would have hit her calf.

Now the lasers moved back and forth as well, no longer a straight wall, forcing her to keep moving, constantly dodging and ducking, flipping and rolling, jumping and twisting. A handspring through one set followed by a roll to dodge another and twisting in midair to get around two parallel ones.

Then, she felt a flash of heat, like someone pressing their finger to a pretty good sunburn, on the back of her right arm. The green beams turned red and they all flicked off except the one that had hit her. Just _barely_ having touched the beam, but it was enough.

"Again, not bad. You did better than the first time Rex went, though I will say you've got better focus than he does. Reflexes still could use some work, but you did well under the circumstances. Now, stamina."

"Can you hold on one sec before you turn something on?" she asked, rotating her shoulder. "I landed too hard on the last handspring."

"I'm not turning anything on. All you're doing is running laps at your top speed until you get tired. Simple as that."

"Well okay then." she murmured, rubbing her shoulder another moment before breaking into a sprint and beginning to run around the edge of the training room. She could run a mile in three minutes and eighteen seconds last time she timed herself, so she didn't figure this part would be too difficult.

She quickly found out she was wrong. Despite the snug brace around her ankle, she found that after twelve minutes, fifteen seconds and three miles that her ankle was beginning to hinder her speed. Frowning, she tried to shift her weight off her foot as much as she could without affecting her stride, not finding much success.

"Don't worry about your speed until your ankle is completely healed." Six spoke over the intercom. "The focus is that you're pushing as hard as you can."

A moment later, the limp became far more noticeable, however, by this point, the girl's skin was coated in the glossy sheen of sweat and she was breathing more heavily. She didn't slow, though, keeping a steady pace for another six and a half minutes. At that point, she slowed to a jog, panting considerably.

"Okay, I'm can't go any more or I'm going to pass out." she finally said between heavy breaths.

"Nearly twenty minutes at seventeen miles per hour. Room for improvement, but a decent enough time. That will be all for today, you are dismissed."

"Well happy Monday to you too." she murmured, then headed back to the locker room to shower.

 **I was kinda hesitant to put in the bit with Rex staying in Kateri's room, but ultimately, I decided that, they're both eighteen and can make their own decisions, Rex would respect boundaries, and I can't see anything good come out of someone starting something, which I'm pretty sure they both know that. It was purely for comfort reasons, on both of their parts, and I feellike it can be left at that.**

 **Also, in other personal news, my senior campout was Sunday night, which is basically where all the seniors camp out in the front parking lot and get to be assholes in general by blocking off said parking lot. This also entailed my friends and I dumping quite a bit of glitter in the dryer in the boy's locker room(they will never get it all out) and some strategically placed red food dye. It also entailed sleeping in the back of my boyfriend's car(layed down the seats and threw an air mattress over them), which left us ahead of the curve, because it started raining at like 2 in the morning, so all the people sleeping in the back of trucks...yeah.**

 **We're classy down here.**

 **Anyways, please leave me a review and tell me what you think! See you next week!**


	5. Dress Up

**Hi, I'm a day late, sorry. I was trying to download a driver for my drawing tablet, but since it's so old, it's not in the Wacom(tablet company) archives anymore and I had to use another site which put adware on my computer which makes it obnoxious to use.**

 *****IMPORTANT*** This story is going on a brief hiatus. Now, for those who've been here since the first one, don't worry, this isn't gonna be another ordeal where I vanish for a year and a half. Graduation is coming up fast and that with finals, mailing announcements, finding a job, and just a whole slew of things, I'm pinched for time and I have to take priority of those things for now. That being said, I actually graduate the 27th, so the next chapter will be up the following Tuesday in which I'll resume schedule(May 31st). Thanks for your patience.**

Time began to blur together again as the archer settled into a routine at Providence. Monday through Thursdays, she got up at six o'clock for training at six forty five(because that was on time for the seven o'clock starting time). Trained until ten, then went and got lunch. At that point, Rex would normally be up and he'd meet her there. Tuesdays and Thursdays she'd meet Holiday at two for an hour. Friday afternoons and Saturdays she tended to just derp around with Rex, Friday mornings were weekly checkups with Holiday on her recovery.

Caesar had begun to take an interest in her as well, because of the curious nature of her nanites. He was constantly trying to build things that could withstand them, to see if he could learn more about them. He'd been met with next to no success, the longest lasting probe he built barely making it over a minute. However, the times she saw him were sporadic at best, the elder Salazar constantly being called to different bases or sometimes just simply vanishing into his lab for days at a time.

"Touch each fingertip to your thumb as quickly as you can." Holiday instructed, hovering over the girl who sat on the edge of the examination cot. Kateri did as she was told, clumsily making the motion. All of her fingers responded relatively well except her ring finger. "Not to worry, your ring finger and middle finger share a tendon, so it's to be expected that it doesn't move as well. There rest seem to being progressing nicely, however."

"How much longer until I can shoot my bow?" she asked, letting her hands fall to her lap.

"That's still going to be a while, likely another month before they are fully healed." Holiday said. "I'd be willing to let you shoot a bow with a weak pull in a couple of weeks, but you've got about another month before you can use your old one."

"What are you calling a 'weak pull'?" she asked.

"No more than twenty pounds, recurve only." Holiday replied, getting an immediate scoff.

"Not even worth the energy." she said. "That wouldn't send one arrow more than 80 yards on my best day, I'll just wait until I can use mine."

"Just one?" Holiday asked. "Can you shoot multiple arrows at once, then?"

Kateri nodded. "If I do I lose distance, though, because the string is propelling three to four times the weight."

"Can you shoot more than four at once?"

"No, I don't have enough fingers to aim them, and that's pushing it. I can usually shoot two without accuracy taking _too_ much of a dive, but four tends to give me more missed shots than just using three." she replied. "Honestly, three can be pretty off, too, just usually not enough to screw up whatever I'm doing, but it only works at close range. I only started learning how to do it a year or so ago."

"Still impressive if you ask me." the woman said with a friendly smile. She'd warmed up to the girl quite a bit after having gotten to know her a little better and honestly liked her company.

Another shrug. "Honestly, I don't much care for it. I _can_ shoot more than one, but it takes a lot more focus and concentration, because now I'm having to aim two arrows at two different places at the same time. Three is even harder and four takes more time that I usually have to spend aiming and it doesn't get good enough results to keep it up."

"And what about just one?" Holiday asked, pulling out a stethoscope made from plastic and other non metal materials and pressing it to the girl's chest. She checked her pulse every week, but it had yet to show signs of slowing to a normal pace.

"One? Barely have to think about it, almost second nature by this point. That's why I keep asking, it's relaxing to me." she said.

"I'd be interested in watching you shoot once your shoulder has healed, if that's alright. I'm curious as to the effect it has of your mood and stress levels." Holiday jotted down the numbers and looped the stethoscope around her neck, then began carefully peeling back the bandages on her shoulders. The wounds were open yet again, with fresh scabs covering the scrapes that were held together with a butterfly stitch. "You reopened them again."

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. I kinda considered tying my hands together or something, but I figured that might just make it worse." she murmured. "I'm honestly not really sure how to stop doing it. Well, except not sleep until they heal but I don't see that going super well."

"I think not, which is why I made this." she tossed something at the girl. I looked like a pair of shoulder pads with clear straps that would go in front of her chest and behind her back. "If you wear this at night it should keep you from reopening them, so they have a chance to heal up."

Kateri took the padding with a grateful smile. "Thanks. I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to keep from clawing them open every time."

"Not a problem. It's not exactly good for the tissue to keep getting torn like that, so I thought this might help." Holiday wrapped a black sleeve around her upper arm to take her blood pressure. "So, do you have any plans for Christmas? It's next week, you know."

"It is? No, not really. That's what, a Friday?" Holiday nodded. "I guess I could do something, since I wouldn't have training. Not exactly sure what I'd do, though."

"Why not dinner?" The scientist suggested. "Someplace quiet and nice, might be a nice chance to get away a little."

"What, like one of those fancy restaurants with things like caviar and two hundred dollar bottles of champagne?" The archer seemed hesitant. "Never actually been in one of those where I wasn't undercover and had a knife strapped to my thigh."

"I get the feeling you'd do that if you were undercover or not." Kateri didn't bother denying it. "But I do think you need to get out of here more often. I know Rex has brought you to lunch a couple of times, but I think it'd be nice for you to do something like that."

"Maybe. I don't really know where to go, or what I'd wear, because a lot of those places tend to have a dress code and I literally have jeans, tank tops and workout clothes." she said. Not that that wasn't her own fault, because she still hadn't really gone out and gotten more clothes aside from a few more sets for training. Otherwise, she'd been wearing the same four pairs of jeans, ten or so tank tops and T-shirts and two hoodies, doing laundry twice a week.

"I'll help you with that, if you'd like." Holiday offered. "I've been to a number of events, so I have a pretty good idea of how those things work."

"Alright." she relented. "I'll go. What about Rex?"

"He'll be fine." she said, with the smallest of smirks.

"If this is what's happening, can I make a request?" she asked.

"Sure thing."

"If I'm going to be in a dress, can we find one that has long sleeves and a back?" she asked. "I really don't want to deal with people gawking at the bandages and scars, _especially_ the ones on my back."

"Of course." Holiday jotted a few notes. "Alright, you seem to be good to go."

"Thanks." She slid off the examination table. She fidgeted a moment. "So, um, you said it's next week, right? When would we…"

Holiday chuckled at the girl's awkwardness. "We can go find you a dress on Sunday, since I'm sure a couple of your friends would like to tag along. I'll take care of reservations."

She flashed the older brunette a smile. "Thank you. I have no idea what I'm doing."

"I can tell, which is why help is here. Now go on, I've got data to log."

Kateri nodded and vanished through the door.

(*)

Kateri couldn't remember the last time she had been in a mall for sheer enjoyment. She'd done all kinds of recon at them, normally just following someone around, and rarely just for herself. She was pretty sure she had at _some point_ , but did the archer actually remember when that was or what it was for? No.

"Um, I have no idea where to go." she said, glancing around the breezeway. Holiday stood next to her, and this was the first time Kateri had ever seen her without the white lab coat, leaving her in a yellow sweater and gray pencil skirt. Willow and Charlie had gone along as well, somewhat excited to help the girl find a dress, but Jordan had chosen to skip out(something they were all glad for as the girl would not have been able to sit through something like dress shopping).

"Just come with me, there's a couple places with some things I think you'd like." She said. walking forward. Now knowing what else to do, the Navajo simply followed her.

"You've worn dresses before, yes?" Charlie asked, her sharp Scottish accent quirking the vowels.

"Well yeah, for when I was sneaking into parties, but I was always just kind of given one. Never really paid attention to what they looked like because half the time they ended up trashed by the end of the night." she shrugged.

"Well, we'll find you something." Willow said.

They ended up at a place called Nordstrom. The name was familiar to the girl, though she'd never actually been shopping in one. She never really went shopping in general, really, though.

"Is there a particular color or cut you want to look at?" she asked, and Kateri just gave her a blank look.

"No idea what the cut would be, but I like jewel tones, they have a nice contrast with my skin. Nothing too light, though, I don't want people to be able to see through it." she said, pausing to consider the words further. "And not black, I don't want to look like I'm going to a funeral."

"Alright, that's a start." Holiday flipped thought one of the racks. "Do you know what size you wear?"

"Um, I want to say a six, but sometimes an eight if they run small. Or that's what it was about eight months ago, it might be a little smaller now since I haven't been eating as much." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew she'd made a mistake.

"You haven't?" Holiday asked, green eyes cutting to the girl.

"No. I was in a coma for two weeks living off fluids." she said quickly, looking at the ground.

"That was four weeks ago, you should be on a normal diet by now." Holiday gave her a 'this isn't over' look, but dropped it. "Would you be willing to try a lace back if it was dark and thick enough to keep your scars from standing out?"

"Maybe." she said hesitantly. "It depends how much it covers."

"You could always wear your hair down, too, I bet no one even sees them." Holiday smiled.

"What scars?" Willow asked. "They can't be that bad."

Kateri bit her lip and glanced around before tugging Charlie and Willow further behind the rack so they were out of sight of prying eyes. She shrugged off her jacket and pulled up the back of her tank top. The two girls were quiet.

"That...um…" Willow trailed off.

"Yeah, I know." She pulled her shirt back down, slipping the jacket back on. "It's really not the scars that bother me, it's the stigma attached to them. With _that many_ , people immediately jump to their own conclusions and make assumptions, and a lot of the time, they're not actually that far off." She didn't mind maks on her skin. She did mind walking into a room and everyone assuming she was a killer because of them.

"Well, then let's find you something you like." Charlie said, putting on a smile and tugging her back to the rack. Holiday had already pulled out a couple, one a dark forest green with silver sequins on the bodice and lace sleeves, and another that was navy with full sleeves, the area across the top of her chest, shoulders and the top of the back lace as well.

"Not much to pick from since it's so close to Christmas, but a lot of what's here have the long sleeves you wanted." she said.

"That's fine, I'm honestly not all that picky." she said, flipping through a few herself. She noticed most of them seemed to have lace on them, idly wondering if that was some trend or something.

Kateri found another two dresses she liked as well, Willow and Charlie each adding one to the pile, leaving a total of six for the girl to try on.

The first was the green one Holiday had found. She stepped out of the room, fidgeting with the sleeves.

"The sleeves are kinda itchy, but other wise I like it." she said.

"It's a little long on you unless you planned to wear heels." Willow pointed out.

"I probably am, since the only pair of shoes I currently own are combat boots." she said.

"I like the color on you, though." Charlie said. "Bit more of a kelly green girl, m'self, but it's nice."

"Let's see the next one, you're swimming in fabric." Holiday said with a small smile. She would be lying if she wasn't a bit amused by the other girl's behavior. None of them really did things like this, and it was pretty clear that she was the only one who wasn't utterly out of her element. Willow and Charlie, while more than willing to give thier opinions, didn't really know much about dress shopping.

The archer slipped back into the dressing room and tugged on the dress Charlie had found. This one was a light lilac, but the back was completely solid and would cover her skin. It was a more wrap style and had short sleeves that only just went over her shoulders, leaving only a few thin scars showing that blended into her skin fairly well.

"I know it's kinda the opposite of what you asked for, but I made sure it would cover almost everything. Thought you might find that you liked it more than you thought." Charlie said somewhat sheepishly.

"No, it's fine. I _do_ like it and you can't see through it, which was my only concern." she said. Really, the pale purple looked nice against her toffee complexion and the back of it went up to the back of her neck. "But it's a little bit too big." Tugging at the sides, she pulled it snug against her waist, showing there was a good few inches of leftover fabric.

"A shame, it's a pretty dress." Holiday said, agreeing the color looked nice against her darker skin.

Next, Kateri tried on one of the dresses she had picked. It was a dark plum color with a mermaid cut skirt and rhinestones lining the bust and sleeves. She instantly knew it was not the dress for her.

"I don't like the skirt." she said as soon as she stepped out. "I thought it might look nice, but my stride is too long, it keeps digging into my legs because I step too far."

"Not surprising, I've had the same issue before." Holiday said. The girl looked good in the dress, the style accentuating her figure nicely, but the older brunette knew exactly what the girl was talking about and knew the archer would have no patience for it and possibly tear the seams. "Then onto the next one?"

She nodded, going back into the room. She tried on the dress Willow picked next. Slipping it on, she took one look at her reflection and smiled.

"I like this one." she said, pushing the door aside. "It's not exactly what I'd pictured, but I _really_ like this one." She said, turning so they could see the back.

"Now _that_ is gonna have that boy drooling on himself." Charlie said matter-of-factly, and Kateri immediately flushed bright red.

"I'm with Charlie, that is _beautiful_." Willow said. "I think that's the one."

Kateri glanced at Holiday with questioning eyes.

"I think you've found your dress. Do you still want to try on the others?"

"Not really, I don't think I'm going to like them more than this one. You did good, Willow."

The auburnette blushed. "I kind of picked it more for the color, it looked like it would bring out your eyes."

And it did. "Well, you have good taste."

The archer hung the other dresses on the return rack, before they moved on to where the shoes were. "Just to get this out of the way, I _really_ don't want to be stuck in stilettos. They hurt like bitch and I'll be barefoot within an hour."

Finding a pair of shoes wasn't the long task that the dress was. The archer settled quickly on a pair of heels that went up over her ankle with an open toe and laces up the front. It had a wedge style heel, so they were easy to walk in, and they wouldn't give her blisters.

She also stopped by an electronics store and got another mp3 player and a little speaker so she could fill the silence of her room, as well as a phone to replace the one that had gotten fried.

By that point, Kateri was just about _done_ shopping. She had no idea how regular teenagers could spend so much time doing this, it was _so boring_. She'd much rather go do something fun, like laser tag or something, but just wandering around and looking at clothes? No.

"Please tell me we're getting food now." Charlie said once they'd left the store. "Shopping is boring after about four seconds and it's past lunch."

"Here here." said Kateri.

"I planned on it, since _someone_ apparently hasn't been eating enough." Holiday glanced at Kateri.

"Sorry!" The girl muttered. "Just haven't had much of an appetite, but I do eat!"

They headed back to Providence after lunch, much to Kateri's relief. There were a few too many people in the mall that she'd have liked, but it hadn't bothered her quite enough to have said anything. She hadn't done anything so painfully normal in a long time, and she wasn't to eager to do something of the sort again, but it _had_ been nice to actually go out and do something for a few hours just for herself.

It was about three o'clock by that point, and Willow and Charlie left as well to get back to the training base. Kateri went back up to her room, taking the things she'd gotten with her. The dress bag and box of shoes went into her closet, joining the few articles of clothes she had. She then wished she'd thought to get more clothes while she'd actually been at a mall, but just shrugged it off. She'd managed so far, she'd get by a little longer.

Pulling out the new phone she'd gotten, already in the case she grabbed so it wouldn't break, she discovered that Providence did in fact have wifi and she began syncing her music to the phone, as well as her mp3 player.

Once she'd connected it to the speaker, music began to play softly through it, much to the girl's relief. The silence was suffocating sometimes.

Flopping down on her bed, she also did a data sync to her phone, since she kept most of it backed up online. As her pictures came through, she found herself flicking through several of them.

She herself didn't tend to take many pictures and didn't even _have_ any real social media(fake accounts for missions didn't really count), but there were still dozens of them from where Salem and Abe used to steal her phone and take pictures of everyone. Half of them were pictures no one had been expecting, usually of Ema with her hand in front of her face and Kateri with a deadpan look.

A small smile crept over her face as she flipped through the pictures, remembering the moment when almost every single one of them were taken. The time Salem put a gecko in Ema's hair and the genius had just picked it up and pet it, letting it rest on her shoulder afterwards. The time she and the pyro had put shave cream in a sleeping Abe's hand and run a tissue over his face. There were several blurry shots from when the lanky blond had woken up and chased them. The time where Abe had stolen Salem's favorite lighter and put it in Kateri's quiver, which had almost ended in a fistfight until Abe came clean.

Tapping on a video, she watched the footage play. It had been from one of the few times they'd all met up just to hang out for a couple days, no missions, no criminal activity. Just a moment to have some fun.

The feed started to show a small, empty beach. It had been April of the previous year, where the daytime was warm and sunny but the nights still got fairly cool. Salem was the one holding the phone.

" _Arrow, is this thing on? Your phone is all fancy compared to mine since your company or mafia or whatever got it."_

" _Yes, it's on. The red dot flashes when it's recording."_

" _Oh, okay."_

She flipped it around to reveal the rest of the group sitting around a small(small for Salem) fire with marshmallows and hot dogs.

" _Salem, why are you recording us?" Kateri asked._

" _Memorabilia, Arrow, it's the little things in life we remember." the pyro had replied, looking back._

The video also showed one of the few times that Salem had her hair down. She normally kept it back in a ponytail, a bun if it was hot, with her bangs loose. It only gave the archer another reason to think of her whenever she saw Willow, both girl's hair long and wavy, Willow's a bit more red.

" _Right, because remembering a campfire by a beach is something that needs to be documented. I'm sure she'll remember it just fine without a video." Ema griped._ The genius wasn't exactly camera shy, but she didn't much care for pictures either.

" _Nah, I bet she goes back and watches this one day and thinks 'well damn, I'm glad that crazy fire bitch made this'."_

" _I somehow doubt that's what would be going through her mind." Abe commented, poking at his marshmallow before holding it back over the fire._

" _What do you think, then?" She asked the archer. "You gonna go back and watch this one day?"_

 _She shrugged. "No clue, guess it depends on if I end up dead or something. Probably."_

" _Wow, way to be depressing." Salem looked directly into the camera and rolled her eyes. "Yo, future Arrow, if you're still this depressing and shit then, please come find me so I can give you a nice ass kicking." Kateri stood up in the background, walking towards the auburnette._

" _God, Salem, give me that-_ "

The video ended there. Powering off the screen, Kateri dropped the phone to one side.

"I wish you were here to kick my ass, honestly." she murmured to herself. "Even if you were beating the shit out of me, you'd be _here_."

"So what if I was?"

Kateri about jumped out of her skin, jerking around as her eyes widened as she saw a small figure leaning against the wall. "...S-Salem?"

The pyro laughed. "Miss me?"

Kateri couldn't speak for a moment, her mouth opening and closing a few times. "I...where have you...how...Salem, what the fuck? How are you alive?"

A dark look passed over the other girl's face. "Good questions, Arrow, but I don't have any answers you don't."

"What do you mean? And how did you get in here?" Kateri was extremely confused.

"You're in here, right?" Salem raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, so…?" Kateri got a sinking feeling in her gut, for more reason that one. "...You aren't real, are you?"

The other girl raised one shoulder and dropped it. "I'm as real as you make me. Probably should look into that."

"Great, I'm going crazy…" Kateri murmured.

"Or you just need to sleep." Salem, or whatever was talking, suggested. "I mean, it's not like this is the first time your sleep deprived ass has hallucinated people."

Salem didn't know that, no one did. It's not like that's something you advertise. Kateri sighed and leaned her head back, frustrated and disappointed and just irritated in general. "Can I please just be normal."

"You and I both know that ship sailed a long time ago."

"God, piss...off…" She glanced around to see that the arsonist's small figure had vanished. "Yeah, I'm definitely losing my shit."

She set the phone in the table, shutting off the music and wiggling on the shoulder pads. Curling up on her bed, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

 **Honestly, I was super hesitant about putting in that last part. I don't want it to seem like she's going crazy or anything of the sort and I don't intend for it to be a huge point in the plot. I did a lot of research over hallucinations, and it's not uncommon for PTSD victims to hallucinate comrades, especially in cases of war veterans. In this case, it's meant to be portrayed as a manifestation of denial and isn't to better or worsen her condition, but show its progression in a more straightforward way. I hope this is making sense and I hope it doesn't look like I'm just making things up for the sake of it.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'd appreciate a review telling me what you thought! I'll see you all soon!**


	6. May I Have A Dance?

**Hello everyone, I'm finally back! Miss me? I missed y'all. I'm graduated now, so I have all kinds of time at my disposal and it's weird. I also got a new drawing tablet for graduation, just in time since my old 12 something year old one died a couple weeks ago, so if y'all check out my art tumblr, tham-draws, I have a couple drawings for the story on there, including Rex and Kateri sparring and a drawing of the scars on Kateri's back(something I've wanted to do for a while now).**

 **Also, shoutout to beeboobopolis on tumblr for doing not only the first fanart for this story, but the first fanart I've** ** _ever_** **gotten for a story! They did a couple of lovely drawings of Kateri, which are also on my blog if you wanna check them out!**

 **I didn't sleep at all last night and I'm wired as hell so let's do this!**

"No."

"Please?"

"Have I said yes in any of the past four times you've asked?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then this conversation is over."

"But Six! I don't actually own a tux and Holiday said to dress nice." Rex pouted. Holiday had given the EVO teen the address of the restaurant a few days previous, saying she'd made reservations for him and Kateri, but there was a dress code. He was currently trying to borrow one of Six's suits, which wasn't exactly working out.

"Then go get a suit." Was the reply he got.

"I can't afford a tux! And if I rent one that's automatically gonna jinx it and I'm gonna mess it up!" the Latino protested.

"Not my problem."

Rex turned away and began to sulk before a light went off. Pulling out his phone, he quickly flicked through his contacts. "Hey, Noah, do you still have that tux from prom last year?"

(*)

"Rex, just stop."

"No, I got this!"

"No, you don't, you just knotted your fingers together." Noah reached forward and pulled Rex's hands free from the tie that the Latino _could not tie_. "You are so lucky that the pants are too long for me, or this wouldn't fit."

The boys were relatively close to the same size, but Rex was a few inches taller. Fortunately, since the blond had waited until the last minute to buy a tux, the best one he could find was a little long on him, making it perfect for Rex.

"Show off." Rex grumbled when the tie was immaculate in seconds.

"This is coming from the one who works for an elite organization as one of their top agents for his EVO curing abilities." Noah deadpanned.

"Oh yeah, I _am_ pretty awesome." the Latino grinned, earning an eye roll from his friend.

"It would probably be better if the tie matched whatever dress she's wearing, but I didn't have enough time to go find one." Noah commented.

"I don't know what it looks like." Rex admitted as Noah stepped back. "When I asked, she just shrugged and said 'you'll see when I wear it'."

"Mysterious, I like it. You're about as good as you're gonna get, bro." Noah, much like Holiday, had been very hesitant of the girl at first, but had also warmed up to her after a while. He'd only met her a handful of times, but she didn't seem too bad. Rex was happy and that was all Noah really cared about.

The Latino was fitted with a standard black tux with a light silvery gray vest and a black button up, the tie Navy and gold. His goggles were gone, through his hair was still swept back in its usual spikes. "Thanks for letting me borrow the tux."

"If I get that back with one thread out of place, you're replacing it." Rex wasn't sure how the blue eyed blond could be so casual yet so menacing.

"Alright, fair enough. Let's get going, Doc said be down there by six." Rex said.

"So, Christmas dinner, huh?" Noah asked as they walked.

"Yeah, Doc's idea."

"Have you actually come up with anything on your own besides video games?" Noah asked. "Because it seems like Doctor Holiday has come up with all of your best ideas."

"Hey, cut me some slack. Still new to this whole 'courting' thing." Rex defended.

"Dude, no one uses the term 'courting' anymore."

"It's the best word I've got for...whatever this is." he said, tugging at his collar. The tie made him feel almost claustrophobic.

"Stop messing with it." Noah commanded. "If you screw it up, they might not let you in, because that suit is about all you've got going for you."

"Rude. I personally think I look pretty hot, myself."

Noah stopped walking, eyes wide. "And yet, say hello to second place, buddy."

Normally, Rex would have had a comeback for his friend, but his attention was entirely on what had stopped Noah.

Standing in front of him, talking to Holiday up until they had arrived, was the girl he was supposed to take to dinner.

The dress she was wearing hugged her body well, trailing down to lightly brush the floor. It was a deep merlot color, a dark, warm red that gathered at the girl's left side. Intricate gold embroidery trailed along the seam over it, following it up the girl's shoulder and around the lace neck of the dress. The sleeves were a flesh tone sheer and the embroidery continued down her arms like it was a part of her skin. When he saw her from the side, he had seen where the dress buttoned closed over the top half of her back with thick lace, hiding her scars, but her lower back was completely open with more of the gold stitching around the space. The skirt was smooth and sleek, with a slit going up her right leg about four inches above her knee, another small cluster of the gold patterns at the top of the slit. Her skin was somehow brighter and glowed and her eyes stood out, the Latino realizing after a moment she was wearing a bit of makeup. Her full lips were painted a burgundy to nearly match the dress and her hair was curled as well, hanging down her back in thick, loose rings. Kateri was a goddess.

Okay, he was a _little_ biased, but the archer was...he didn't quite have a word right then, his brain wasn't functioning very well.

"Damn Rex, you both clean up nice." Noah muttered under his breath, nudging his friend.

Rex said something really intelligent like, "I, uhm..."

"Rex, you're drooling." the archer said, but her cheeks were red from the Latino's gawking.

"I...sorry, I uh...wow." he managed. "You-You look nice. Really nice."

"Did you work on that all day?" She jested with a small laugh. "But thanks. You look nice, too."

"Yeah, uh, brain and mouth not cooperating too well right now, please leave a message." he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck where the collar suddenly seemed too snug(definitely the tie, right?).

"You two need to go, reservations are at seven and you're supposed to get there half an hour early." Holiday said, handing a little clutch to Kateri. She'd been a little difficult in regards to it at first, but Holiday talked her into carrying it.

"Right. Uh, shall we?" Rex asked, holding out his arm. Kateri wrapped her hands loosely around it, allowing herself to be led away.

(*)

"What's your reservation?" The hostess asked, with a smile just a little bit too fake after hours of standing at the desk. Quiet music played from hidden speakers.

"Um, Holiday?" Rex asked, not actually sure what name they were under.

"Hm, I don't see you on here."

"Try Salazar." Kateri spoke from beside him, then glanced up at Rex. "Why would she set the reservations under her name?"

"I just...shh."

"Here you are. Seven?" she asked.

"That's us."

"If you'll follow Miss Jamia here, she'll escort you to your table." she gestured to where a short Hispanic woman stood.

The pair followed her through the left side of the restaurant, the right side being a dance floor of sorts, her heels clicking sharply against the tile floor until they arrived at a small table tucked away from the bulk of the crowds. "Here's your table, Mr. and Mrs. Salazar, I hope you enjoy your evening."

Kateri gave the woman a strange look as Rex moved to pull out the girl's chair. After a moment, what he was doing clicked and she sat down, the Latino sitting in the chair across from her.

"She called me Mrs. Salazar." she murmured. "That was kinda weird."

Rex shrugged, trying harder than he cared to admit that he wasn't trying to make a big deal out of it. "It was the only name given, she probably was just trying to be polite."

"Yeah, probably…" she nodded.

A few minutes later, Jamia returned with menus, an older man carrying a tray with two wine glasses and a flask of water behind her. She handed them the menus as the man poured the water.

"Alright, I'll give you two a few minutes to look over your menus, I hope you find something to your liking. I won't be far, just call if you need anything." She gave a warm smile. "Your dress is lovely, it suits you."

Kateri blushed. "Thanks."

The woman walked away, leaving the two of them alone.

"So..." Rex began, with a smirk on his face.

"Rex don't you dare."

"Come here often?"

Kateri sighed and let her face fall into her palm. "Apparently I'm falling for an idiot." she mumbled under her breath, just quiet enough Rex couldn't make out her words. "Lamb tartare? Um, I like my meat cooked, thanks."

"No sushi?" Rex asked.

She shrugged. "Never really tried it, raw fish weirds me out."

"Man, I have _got_ to show you this little place in Hong Kong, they have the _best_ sushi."

"Oh, that's right, you did live in Hong Kong for a while, didn't you?" she nodded, glancing over the other things listed.

"...huh?" Rex looked confused for a moment. "Oh yeah, I forgot you already knew a lot about me from your first mission."

"Not everything. As soon as you went public with Providence, you were on _their_ radar too and they tracked your movements. When you went back to China, they did some digging on the gang you were in. I'm not sure what all they found since it wasn't pertinent to my mission."

"Oh. Okay." The Latino wasn't exactly sure what to say since it's not everyday you find out people have been tracking your life, so his gaze returned to the trifold in his hands.

They ordered their food when the waitress returned, Kateri getting stuffed quail with scallops and Rex choosing lobster ravioli.

"I have no idea what quail tasted like." the archer admitted when the waitress left once again. "Kinda just thought I'd try something new, in a place like this anything's bound to be good."

"Yeah, same here. Lobster is supposed to be really good, right?"

The two teens laughed.

"This is super nice, but I'm glad this isn't a normal part of my life, I don't think I could stand all this posh crap." she said.

"Pretty sure breaking stuff is frowned upon, I'd get kicked out." he said, idly tapping the side of his glass. The water quivered and the glass emitted a soft ring with each tap.

Kateri let out a rare giggle. "I don't think that's how it works, social classes aren't clubs."

The Latino gave a careless shrug. "I'm a hero, I have my own class."

The Native American girl rolled her eyes. "Is it called Narcissistic Idiots? Because that was just about hit the nail on the head."

"I feel obligated to take offense to that." he said with mock hurt, sulkily taking a sip of his water.

"Be offended all you want, I'm not gonna sugarcoat the truth." She said, picking up her own water and bringing the glass to her lips. After a few seconds, her gaze became a bit unfocused. She could have sworn she'd seen a flash of blond hair with cobalt streaks in the crowd of dancing people.

"Kateri?" Rex asked when she didn't move. She didn't respond. " _Kateri_."

She glanced up, looking a bit startled. "What? Oh, sorry, must have spaced out there."

"Don't worry about it." he said reassuringly. "What's on your mind?"

Sh chewed her lip. "I'm...afraid."

His brows furrowed. "You don't have anything to be afraid of anymore." He reached across the table and grabbed her hand on his. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"No, not like that." she shook her head, but did not pull her hand away. "Rex, I've lived most of my life on the move, as the thing that goes bump in the night or training to be. I don't really know anything else, and I'm kind of afraid I can't have a normal life because of it. I don't even know what normal is, or how to be it."

"Normal is an illusion." He smiled at her, warm brown eyes catching her soft green ones. "What's normal for the spider is chaos for the fly. You don't have a set of rules to follow, you just...live your life how you want to. What did you want to be before everything happened?"

More lip chewing. "You're seriously asking what I want to be when I grow up."

"And quoting Morticia Addams, yes."

The smallest chuckle. "I wasn't completely sure then, but I'd always liked the ocean and sealife. My mother had told me about marine biology, so that's what I always told everyone. Marine biologist, or a deep sea diver. I think aerodynamic engineering would be really cool too, especially with my archery background."

"So that's where you start." he said.

She sighed. "Rex, I don't think it's that simple. I have almost no legal record from after I was eleven, I literally might as well have dropped off the face of the Earth. To even try to fill in those gaps is a task in and of itself, and then to get all the certifications I'd need, like basic scuba, deep diving, the amount of pressure training, and don't even get me started on how much math there is is in _any_ engineering...I can't even go roller skating without having a panic attack, and I-"

"Hey." She stopped speaking at the soft word. "You're only human. Just because you've been through some rough times doesn't mean you can't still do those things. One step at a time."

She took a deep breath and pushed the thoughts away. "You're right. Sorry, I don't need to be dragging this up, this is Christmas dinner, not Kateri's Pity Party."

"Not Pity Party. Confidence Party. Acknowledging a problem isn't looking for sympathy."

"Since when did you get so wise?" she asked with a small upturn of her lips.

He shrugged. "Eh, I'm smarter than people tend to give me credit for. Which reminds me, I found out that I'm actually really good at math, so I could help you with that."

"Since you were top of your Trig class for the, what, two weeks you were in high school, I figured as much." she said. "Both of your parents were brilliant scientists and your brother is a genius, I find it hard to believe you wouldn't live up to that standard at least a little."

"Nice to know you've got such a high opinion of me." He smirked, and she rolled her eyes.

A few minutes later, a couple waiters came out with their food, Jamia close behind.

"Alright, here are your meals. I hope everything is to your liking, and if there are any issues, just let me know and they'll be taken care of right away." she said as the dishes were set out.

"Thank you, ma'am." Kateri said. Jamia nodded and stepped back, the waiters leaving as well.

"For someone who said they have no idea what they're doing, you sure seem to know what you're doing." Rex commented.

"I've done a handful of undercover jobs where I snuck into fancy parties and whatnot." she shrugged "I know how to bullshit the mannerisms, that's not that hard. It's the beforehand I'm not so great at."

Rex glanced down at his plate. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to eat it or put it in a museum."

"Not the worst I've seen." Kateri said, gesturing to their food. "Once, I saw someone served a shrimp scampi, but the shrimp had been built into a parrot to something with toothpicks. It was so ridiculous."

"Seriously? And people think that's classy? I thought it was bad to play with your food after like, nine." Rex said, finally poking at the ravioli. He shrugged and just took a bite. "...I have tasted the food of the gods."

Kateri, who'd taken a moment to actually cut a piece off of her own food since it was actually the whole quail, ate a bit of hers as well. "Oh my god, why have I never tried this before."

"I take it back, this whole upper class thing might not be such a bad idea after all." said the Latino, picking up another ravioli with his fork.

The Navajo girl raised an eyebrow. "Just for the food?"

He shrugged. "It's really good food."

The conversation drifted from topic to topic over the course of the next half hour, and the thoughts of things like panic attacks and anxiety had drifted back into the recesses of the archer's mind as she allowed herself to just enjoy the evening with Rex.

"You _what_?" Kateri giggled, something she'd probably done more in that night that she had in her entire life. "You seriously stole his suit?"

"Yeah, which is why I had to borrow this one from Noah, because Six, well, he didn't exactly get that one back." he said sheepishly.

"So how'd you convince Barbie Boy to let you use his?" She and Noah had a running joke with the names, since the blond had also called her Katniss when she first met him...well, actually met him while not tied to a chair being interrogated. She had then called him the first thing she could think of, which was Barbie Boy with his blond hair and blue eyes.

"There may have have been a few death threats." Rex admitted. "He also tied the tie. I couldn't tie the tie. Ties are hard."

"Not really, I can tie one." she said. "I thought Six's suit had a tie?"

Another shrug. "Just didn't wear it."

"Is everything going alright?" Jamia asked, approaching them. Rex had finished his food, and Kateri had actually managed to eat most of hers.

"Great." Rex said. "Whoever is cooking this stuff had got to be a magician or something, because it's not right how good this stuff is."

His comment earned a friendly laugh from the short Latina. "I'll make sure to give the chef your regards. May I take the dishes out of your way?"

"Sure."

The woman whisked away the dishes, someone coming to refill thier water a moment later. "Is there anything else I can get you two?" she asked when she returned.

"No, I don't think so, thank you." Kateri said.

"Then enjoy your evening, I hope you have a wonderful holiday."

There were a few minutes of silence, neither sure what to do. Kateri ran her finger around the rim of her glass, bringing forth a quiet ring after a few passes. The song overhead changed to a soft acoustic guitar with a piano accompaniment.

Rex then stood and walked to her side of the table, holding out his hand. "May I have a dance with the lady?"

Kateri grinned, slipping her hand into his. "You're ridiculous."

"We're both ridiculous, after all, you did come willingly." he said, tugging the girl to her feet. He noticed that with the heels on, she was almost his height, only an inch or so shorter. "Although, I'm gonna warn you now, I'm not really much of a dancer. Holiday taught me how to waltz and that's about it."

"Actually, that's all I can do, too, and not that well." she said with a slightly embarrassed laugh. "I sort of had to learn just by watching other people, and I almost made an idiot out of myself the first couple times, but now I can manage enough I don't step on people."

"This should be interesting then." he said as they stepped out onto the floor.

She slid her hand around Rex's neck, the Latino fighting back a shudder as her cold fingers pressed to his warm skin. He rested his hands lightly on her waist, feeling the edges of the gold stitching on her back with his fingertips, linking his other hand with Kateri's. There was a brief pause as they found the beat, and then they began to move.

Kateri's eyes stayed on the floor for a minute, to make sure that she wasn't going to step on him, despite having said she wouldn't(she didn't exactly trust her coordination lately), but she eventually looked up. Her eyes found Rex's after a moment, neither speaking as they danced in time.

He moved to spin her around, the hem of her dress, thankfully just the right length to not trip over, flaring out just a bit. A few curls fell over her shoulder as he tugged her back to him, the girl stumbling just ever so slightly. She glanced back up at him, seeming almost shy. Cute wasn't a word Rex would generally associate with her, not the adorable little kitten kind of cute. And yet, the light blush on her face and the way she seemed almost hesitant to look at him.

"I'm a little rusty." she finally said. "I forgot that balance works a little different in heels."

"No one even noticed." he said, pointedly leading her into another spin. This time, she moved more fluidly, returning without issue. "See?"

"Yeah, yeah, hush…" she murmured.

A minute later, the song shifted to softer cello and piano. The other couples around switched to a slower sway(think middle school dance with some class to spice it up). Rex and Kateri mimicked them in hopes of blending in, Kateri moving to link her fingers behind the Latino's neck while he placed his other hand on her waist, her hair lightly brushing his hands.

Leaning even closer, he whispered into her ear. "You know, you really do look beautiful."

Another blush. Kateri wasn't sure she'd ever blushed as much as she had when she'd met Rex. "Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself, Salazar. I admit, though, Willow's the one who found the dress."

"Well, it's really pretty, _you_ are really pretty."

"Keep it up Rex, I'm going to look like I have a permanent sunburn." she whispered, biting her lip.

"I will." he said smugly. "I have the most beautiful girl in the room as my date, so I'm gonna make sure I don't shut up. I wouldn't have said this stuff before, but I was kinda in shock."

"Now you're just being dramatic."

"Maybe." he relented. "But I like to think over complimenting is better than under complimenting, especially since seeing you all dressed up like this is probably going to be more rare than seeing a live dinosaur. I'm going to shamelessly take advantage of it. Plus I'm a little jealous that the waitress was the first one to say anything."

"You never know. I might just decide I like feeling pretty and make this a regular thing." she said teasingly.

"I would not object, but you don't need all this to be pretty." He moved to slide one hand to cup her jaw. "You could be walking around in sweatpants and a messy bun and you'd still be just as beautiful."

"I don't remember you being this smooth." she whispered, unable to look anywhere but those warm, chocolate eyes.

"I might have seen that in a card or a book or something." he said, slowly moving closer to her.

"Sounds about right." There was only a hair's breadth between their faces, but Rex hesitated, searching her eyes as though asking permission.

Her eyes slid closed and she closed the gap.

His hand slid around to the back of her neck, threading his fingers in the girl's thick hair as one of her hands moved to press against his shoulder. For once, her lips weren't as chapped as the Mojave Desert, as they moved against the Latino's. He idly wondered if she was getting the deep red lipstick on his mouth, but couldn't bring himself to care in the slightest one way or another.

She wasn't exactly sure how much time had passed, but when they finally broke apart, she could see that there was something else in Rex's eyes, something more...soft, soft and warm. She gave him a small smile, before leaning forward and tucking her head underneath his chin. His arms moved to wrap around her body in a gentle grip.

"You know, I got you something." he said after a few minutes, not wanting her to move away. She drew back just enough to look at him.

"You did?"

He dug in one pocket, pulling out a smooth, silver chain. On the end of it was a silver arrowhead charm, three crystals(she hoped) decreasing in size embedded down the center. Her eyes widened. "Rex, that's...oh my god."

He smiled, moving behind her to clasp it around her neck, the charm resting in the hollow of her neck.

"Thank you." she said once he was back in front of her. "I got you something too, but it's nothing like that."

She stepped back and led him back to the table. "This was the only reason I even brought this stupid little purse thing." She withdrew a bracelet from inside it. "Not so great at giving gifts, either, but it's handmade, so hopefully that counts for something."

It was a cuff style bracelet, also silver, but it had a _very_ intricate pattern of woven wire wrapping around the entirety of it, the knotwork smooth and even. "Handmade...did _you_ make this?"

"Sort of. I just bought a solid cuff, but all the filigree wrapping was me." she said, sliding it onto his wrist, the silver bracelet a perfect fit(thank you Doctor Holiday). "I have zero artistic talent, but I can braid, so...yeah."

"I fail to see how this isn't just as good if not better than what I gave you." he said, twisting his arm around so he could see all of the patterns. It looked like she'd used different sized wires to create the metal weaving, some of the patterns incredibly complex.

"Well, I mean, you're a guy. I don't really know what kind of thing you get guys, since jewelry is stereotyped as the thing you get girls, but Holiday said it would be fine, and-"

"Kateri, it's perfect." he interrupted, grabbing both of her hands. "Why don't we just go back to dancing so you have an excuse to stop trying to explain yourself."

She nodded. "Yeah, I like this idea."

They moved back to the dance floor, taking up the same position as before. Kateri could hear his heartbeat from where her head rested against his chest, and his hands were warm against her skin.

"Oh yeah, hey Rex?"

"Hm?"

"Merry Christmas."

 **Cute Christmas fluff! This is one of my favorite chapters so far(and considering I'm working on 17, that's saying something), and I love how it turned out. I have a sketch of Kateri's dress floating around on my computer so keep an eye out for the colored one on my blog. I've been drawing like crazy since I got a tablet that works worth a damn(hence why I was literally up all night drawing. One second it's about 8 pm and then oh hey is that the sun...), so I'm in a burst of rolling out a lot of art.**

 **Also, sketch requests are open right now until the 31st(tomorrow, oops...) in celebration of my graduating/new tablet, so if you can catch it, I'll do a sketch for you, but you need to ask over the tumblr ask please(preferably off anon).**

 **So...yeah. Hope y'all liked the chapter and it was good for the wait. Please leave me a review and tell me what you think and I'll see you all next week!**


	7. A Quiet Afternoon

**Guess who's back, back again...**

 **New chapter, woop woop! More of a character development chapter, but I honestly really like it. I think it's a nice break from the whole Rex/Kateri thing for a bit, because, even though that** ** _is_** **what this is about, they aren't going to be around each other 24/7. There's not going to be a whole lot of chapters like this one, but I think they're nice here and there and I like how it turned out.**

 **Enjoy!**

Rex shot upright as the sound of a scream. Rubbing his eyes, he slid out of bed and quickly made his way to Kateri's side of the hall. They'd gotten back to Providence at about nine thirty, which had only been about five hours ago. The door moved aside, but instead of seeing the girl tossing on her bed, she was pressed against the wall, eyes darting around wildly like a cornered animal. "Sh-Shut up. Stop talking." she mumbled.

"Kateri?" Her eyes locked onto his face and she let out a terrified whimper, a noise that he never thought he'd ever hear her make. "Hey, it's just me."

"D-Don't come c-closer." Her voice shook so badly he could barely understand what she was saying.

"Kateri, I'm not going to hurt you." he said quietly, putting his hands up. "You know I'd never hurt you, I want to keep you safe."

"G-Get back, get back!" she squeaked, moving to the corner. Closer to the window now, he could see tears streaming down her cheeks, her entire body shaking in fear. It was physically painful to see her so afraid of _him_.

"Kateri, it's just me. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise!"

"Promise." she muttered, beginning to giggle, but not the sweet, soft giggle that he'd heard so many times earlier, but an almost...manic sound. "Promises, promises, but you're all liars. Liars with your big machines and little needles. You just hurt people."

Something was clearly wrong with the girl. Had she been drugged? She had been completely fine when they'd returned, if not a little tired and unsteady. But this Kateri? A paranoid mess.

"We don't hurt anyone." he said in a quiet voice, taking another slow step towards her. She watched the movement very carefully, but didn't react to it. "We just want to help you."

"That's what they said. ' _We'll make you better. Make you strong, fast, powerful'_. They were liars." she said, sliding down the wall, fingers clutching her head as she stared at the wall. "Weren't they? They were just liars, look at what they did to you."

Rex moved a few steps closer while her head was down, then knelt onto one knee. He was a bit thrown at her words, not completely sure she was talking to him. "Kateri look at me."

She seemed startled that he was so close, head shooting up.

"Do I look like I'd ever lie to you?" he asked, holding her gaze. Her eyes seemed...distant.

"Can't trust anyone, everyone lies. Lies to get what they want, lies to make you do it, lies lies lies…" Her words were run together, making her difficult to understand.

He lifted up one hand and ever so slowly reached for her. Her entire body went still, the only thing moving was her eyes as she watched him move. His hand came to rest on her arm, touch feather light. "I will never hurt you. Let me help fix you."

She then snapped, launching forward and catching Rex off guard as she slammed him to his back. His arms came up to cover his face as her fist came flying at it. Her knuckles dug into his flesh, and he knew he'd have a bruise for every strike. "Kateri, stop!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" she hissed, trying to get her hands around his neck. He managed to get ahold of her wrists first, however, and threw his weight upward, throwing the girl off and flipping them so _he_ was pinning _her_ down.

She thrashed wildly, kicking and struggling to get her arms free, but Rex was stronger. He knew that she wasn't completely in her right mind, though, or else he wouldn't have gotten her pinned down this fast. He may have been stronger than her, but she'd spent years fighting people that were bigger and stronger than her as well.

He continued to try to talk to her, but she was beyond hearing him, only continuing to fight and yell. He knew this was going nowhere soon, and he needed to figure out what was wrong with her, but that wasn't going to happen when she was in this state.

His stomach sank as he realized he'd have to knock her out.

"Goddamn it…" he whispered, then moved. He pulled her up from the floor, using his own legs to keep hers pinned and wrapping one arm tightly around her torso and arms. Her fists slammed into his sides, but she didn't have much leverage, so they weren't really painful. He hesitated just the slightest, then wrapped his other arm around the girl's neck, cutting off the blood flow. She could still breathe, but the lack of blood would cause her to pass out within a few minutes.

Even knowing that, it still didn't sit well with Rex that it felt like he was strangling the girl he cared so much about.

After less than a minute, her movements began to slow, and within a minute and a half, the girl was unconscious in his arms.

Guilt was like lead in his veins as he just held her a moment. He _never_ wanted to do that again. "I'm sorry Kateri."

Sliding his arms beneath the archer, he went to wake up Holiday.

(*)

"It looks like she's got a _severe_ vitamin C and B12 deficiency, probably because she hasn't been eating enough, and I doubt the delirium was helping at all. It's also possible her altered nanites are using the vitamins faster, but I don't know anything for sure." Holiday finally said, holding a few papers in her hands. She'd run the girl's blood to check for toxins in case she'd been slipped something the previous night, but found things missing instead of added. "There's a good chance that's where the psychosis came from, and it might be attributing to the insomnia as well. I'll start her on some supplements, which should hopefully fix the problem."

"Okay. So, are the restraints really necessary?" he asked. Holiday was strapped leather restraints around her wrists and ankles to keep her from lashing out if she woke up.

"I don't think so, I've given her a few grams of them intravenously, so she should be fine when she wakes up. They were really only a precaution until I knew what was wrong." Holiday replied. She was still wearing her pajamas, lab coat pulled over them with her hair thrown up in a haphazard bun to get it out of the way.

"So she's gonna be okay." More of a statement than a question as he began taking off the restraints.

"As far as this goes, yes, she'll be perfectly fine, it's a relatively easy fix." she replied.

"I wish it could all be that simple." he murmured.

"You and me both. She's been through hell and back, she deserves to be able to live normally." Holiday slid the papers into a folder and let out a yawn. "I'm going to head back to bed since it's still five in the morning. I take it you're going to stay here?"

"Yeah. Night Doc, sorry for getting you up." he said.

"It's not a problem, Rex. I'll see you in the morning."

(*)

Kateri paced around through the halls, a short length of paracord in her hands as she tried to memorize the seamless white halls. Rex was gone on another mission and her training had been cancelled for a week until her whole vitamin situation was figured out.

She didn't remember anything from the previous night, waking up that morning on an examination table with Rex sitting passed out beside her, his head on her cot. He'd stirred a few minutes later, explaining what had happened.

" _I woke up because I heard you screaming again, I thought it was another nightmare, but when I got there you were awake."_

She hadn't had any idea what he was talking about. All she knew was that she'd gone to bed in her own room, but woken up on an exam table, very confused as to why she was there, but quickly realizing something was wrong.

" _So how did I end up here?_ "

Rex's expression was the dictionary definition of guilt. He refused to look at her, and it took him several minutes to even answer.

" _I...I had to knock you out. I promise I didn't hit you, I would_ never _do that, but...I held you in a chokehold until you passed out from lack of blood to your head. Kateri, I'm so, so sorr-"_

" _Rex, look at me." She had to reach forward and pull his face up for him to meet her eyes. "Don't be upset, you only did what you had to. Obviously, I'm not hurt, and neither are you nor anyone else because of you."_

She knew she'd spoken too soon, though, because he'd moved to cross his arms, bringing her attention to them where she saw three large bruises of his arms with an all too familiar shape of her knuckles in the centers. She'd had her fair share of guilty looks after that as well.

In her wanderings, Kateri ended up finding herself at Alice's room. Both she and Kira had remained at Providence. Alice had all kinds of health problems, and although Holiday had figured out how to reverse the most severe damages from the experimentation, the girl was still in a slow going recovery, and she'd had several relapses where something else would go wrong.

Peering into the window, she saw Kira in the room as well sitting on a chair pulled up beside Alice's bed. She had stayed, because, upon further investigation, she was already in the foster system and her last halfway house had removed her from their system after the girl being missing for so long. With nowhere to go and such a debilitating disability, she was allowed to remain at Providence through the duration of her recovery until a more ideal situation could be found. The two girls seeming to be playing a board game at the little rolling table, though the archer honestly wasn't sure how. Knocking lightly, Alice glanced up then waved the girl in.

"Hey, Kateri! Been awhile since you've dropped by!" the raven haired girl said.

"Oh, Kateri?" Kira said. No one had quite figured out how to fix the situation with Kira's body temperature, so she wore a bodysuit that looked similar to a wetsuit that was filled with cooling coils to keep her temperature regulated. "Come on it, we're just playing Battleship."

Kateri pulled up a chair. "Um, I swear I'm not trying to be rude, but-"

"How am I seeing the board?" Kira finished with a wry smile. She held up one of the red pegs. "We scratched the ends of the red ones so I can tell which color is which. It takes a while, but I can actually play."

"That's actually really cool. Is it hard?" Kateri asked. She'd never met anyone blind before and was curious.

"More or less." the blind girl replied. "I have a really good touch memory, because I've been blind since I was seven, so it's not that bad, but we never finish a game in one sitting because it takes so long. It always takes me a bit to get going when we start back up, though. What's really fun is when I accidentally knock out pegs."

"Still neat." she said.

" _A good idea._ " It took everything she had not to jump at the soft words. She saw the reflection of blue streaked blond hovering behind her in the screen of one of Alice's monitors, but when she discreetly glanced behind her there was no one there.

"So how have you been?" Alice asked as Kira lightly touched the board to see where she had played. "I've only seen you a few times since you've woken up."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Kateri said sheepishly, shaking off the small burst of adrenaline. "Holiday put me on a training routine, which takes up pretty much the whole morning, and then with all the tests and checkups…" she trailed off. What she didn't tell her was that she'd often deliberately avoid going to see the girls.

I wasn't as if she was never around their rooms, she visited her father at _least_ every other day, usually every day, but a part of her she couldn't quite identify was...uncomfortable, around them. Uncomfortable with the fact that, to some degree, they idolized her and put her on a pedestal. She wasn't that much older than them, Alice was seventeen and Kira sixteen, but she could tell that they held her to a much higher standard than she felt that they should. A standard she wasn't sure she could meet, not anymore.

But Alice just smiled again. It was almost unhealthy how friendly the girl was, Kira too. How could someone be so _nice_ after what had been done to them? "Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure you're busy, you've got a lot of stuff to do. I'm just glad you're here now."

"Yeah. Me too." The archer wasn't sure if it was a lie or not.

"Ugh, I wish they could just figure out what's wrong with me." Alice began, glancing down at her own board. "E7?"

Kira carefully felt her board, then grinned shook her head. Glancing at both boards, Kateri saw that it seemed it was actually Kira who was winning. "Preaching to the choir here. The only time I can take this stupid suit off is when I'm in my own room or in the shower since I take them cold."

"Damn…" Alice slid in a white peg. "Anyways, since this is the medical wing, I can't have a guitar in here and I miss playing."

"You play guitar?" Kateri asked.

The black haired girl nodded. "I used to be a street musician to help my foster mother, well, sister really. We weren't exactly dirt poor or anything, but money tended to be tight."

"Um, you mind if I ask what happened?"

Her smile slipped ever so slightly, sadness creeping into her large, gray eyes. "She was t-boned by an 18 wheeler, smashed the entire left side of her body. Last I'd known, she was still in a coma, had been for over a month from brain trauma." Her eyes watered a bit. "I managed to call the hospital a few days after I got here. They took her off life support almost three years ago. When I went missing, she had no surviving family, and after I'd been missing over a year with no one looking for me, they unplugged her."

"I'm sorry." was the only thing Kateri could think to say, and it didn't feel like nearly enough. So she and Kira both had no family, it seemed*.

She brushed away the tear that had slipped out, taking a deep breath. "No, don't be, it's not your fault. Nothing to do but look forward now." She changed the subject. "Did you know Kira can play the piano, too?"

"Alice!" the girl whined, cheeks flushing red. Her eyes flicked back and forth, but they ended up settling back downcast where they had been before. Really, you wouldn't be able to tell she was blind right away if you didn't already know. Her eyes were still a clear and bright honey brown, if not a bit distant as they were almost always unfocused or downcast. Her eyes had not changed at all, but since her blindness had been caused by damage to her optic nerves, not cataracts, she didn't have the stereotypical milky white eyes.

"Really? Even though…?" The Navajo left the question hanging.

"Yeah. I'd been playing since I was five, and I lost my sight at sevenish, so I kinda just kept it up to keep myself sane. It was definitely...an adjustment, but I kept it up, and now I can play fine."

"While I admit this was a depressing question before, the curiosity remains, how did you end up down there?" Kateri asked. "If your answer is anything like hers, you don't have to answer."

"No no, it's fine. I was in a house fire when I was seven, something about old wiring or... something, I don't remember exactly. My room was on the top floor, so I got out, but everyone else...didn't." She didn't elaborate, but she didn't exactly need to. "Honestly, it doesn't make much sense to me, but basically my blood pressure was really high when I was in the house, and it broke a lot of the capillaries, including the ones in my eyes, which then damaged my optic nerves. At first, I could see shadows and stuff, but it wasn't like I could afford the surgery to repair the damage, since I was pretty much an orphan, and I couldn't see anything within two months. After a few years in foster care, I tried to find out about the surgery then, when I had better means to afford it, but by that point it was permanent."

She then glanced up at Alice. "F4?"

"...yes." she said in a disgruntled tone.

"Anyways, I promise there's a point to this long story." she said, sliding a scratched up red peg into place. "I used to go on walks a lot, and they just sort of let me. It wasn't like I was gonna run away, and no one ever really wanted to adopt me, either since I was already eight and blind. I was about thirteen, and I think it had gotten later than I realized. I'd gotten a little lost, which happened from time to time, but I generally didn't stray too far and people from the area knew who I was, so I could get directions back." She fidgeted with a piece of her shoulder length brown hair. "Well, that didn't exactly happen that time. Someone stopped me, a woman with a weirdly deep voice, and asked me if I was lost. She couldn't tell I was blind right away, at least I don't think, since I refuse to use a sight cane, hated the stupid thing. Made me feel like a freak and people would single me out. Anyways, when she found out where I was from, she told me that she'd just give me a ride back, that it wasn't far."

Alice chose to cut in here, mainly to keep the blind girl from slipping too far into her own memory. Retelling a story was one thing, reliving it was another. "A6?"

"Um…" She lightly touched her board. "Crap, yes."

Alice grinned and triumphantly slid a scuffed peg into place on her board.

"Anyways," she said again in continuation. "In retrospect, I shouldn't have gotten in. It was stupid and ignorant, and I had a bad feeling as soon as I was inside the van or truck or whatever. The whole thing smelled like cleaning supplies, but not like PineSol clean, like heavy ammonia and chemicals. I knew something was wrong, but before I could do anything, a rag was pushed over my face and I was unconscious a few seconds later. I woke up in this metal...box thing with Charlie, Jared, Willow and Jordan. I'm pretty sure I woke up because of the fit Jordan was throwing, banging on the walls and screaming. Anyways, I started to completely freak out and panic and basically was unresponsive until we got there." She took a deep breath and rubbed at her eyes. "I think I'm about done with that story, and I'm pretty sure you know what happened after that anyways."

"No, that's fine." Kateri said quickly. "You told me more than you had to anyways, it's totally fine."

"So, what brought you down this way today?" Alice asked. "You're normally so focused on training stuff, or other people are focused on...whatever's going on with you."

They didn't know about her altered nanites, something she didn't have plans to change anytime soon. So far, only a handful of people at Providence knew about them outside of Rex and Holiday, including White, Six and Caesar. She wasn't too pleased about White knowing, since she didn't know the man very well and hadn't heard many particularly glowing things about him, but Rex assured her that he'd stay tight lipped about it, that it was just so Holiday could have clearance to try to find a way to reverse it.

"Oh, had a little run in with some vitamin imbalances." She said nonchalantly. "It made me kind of loopy last night, so Holiday yanked me off training for a week until it's sorted out. I spent most of my free time in the workout gym to keep in shape and to speed up my PT, but she told me to just do the basic exercises she gave me to make sure everything's sorted out, so I now have a lot of free time until next Saturday."

"Well, we don't exactly do much besides play board games and get fat around here, so free to stop by." Kira said with a grin. "They don't really let me do much since physical activity ups my temperature."

"They don't let me do much because they don't know what the exertion could do." Alice said with an eye roll. "Since my health is fragile and they don't know how to fix it right now, they don't want me overexerting and making it worse."

"Which sounds perfectly reasonable."Kateri said with a pointed look to the irritated expression on Alice's face. "Do me a favor and don't die on me, I went through a lot of trouble to get your sorry asses out, don't make me regret it."

"Are you gonna use that as leverage to get us to do, or not do, stuff from now on?" Kira asked with a mock pout. "Just hang 'I got you out of The Devil's Dungeon' over our heads forever?"

"Kinda. If it comes to you two whining over things for your own good, then yes." The archer replied. "Especially things that happened because of you being down there. The whole point of all that was to keep as many innocent people alive as possible, so the shit giving over the following treatment is not appreciated."

"Wow, you sound like a mother scolding her misbehaving children," Kira noted.

"Good, someone's got to keep you kids in check." Kateri said, barely holding a straight face.

Maybe it was a little soon to be making jokes over the whole mission weeks prior, but she'd rather turn it into a joke than constantly be tormented by it, or at least more tormented. Realistically, it would _always_ be too soon to talk about it, so if she was going to, it might as well be with a funny context.

"Oh please, you're what, a couple years older than us?" Alice asked.

"You'll never know, since I don't have a med chart outside my door with all my information on it." Kateri taunted. "You'll just have to suffer in knowing I know your ages, but you'll never know mine."

"Wow, I'm offended." The raven haired girl said with a pout.

Kateri shrugged carelessly. "Be offended then. Offended and healthy as you do what the doctors tell you."

"Killjoy."

"And a hypocrite, you can't tell me that you don't ignore half the things that they tell you to do.  
Kira said.

"Sure I can, I keep up my physical therapy better than a recovering Olympic athlete would, I go in for routine checkups and these weird therapy-like sessions, and I stick to the training schedule I was given." Kateri defended.

"So you're gonna tell me that you've _never_ blatantly disobeyed any of the doctor's orders?" The blind girl asked skeptically.

Her meal plan flashed through her mind, where she would normally get less than half of what was on them so she wouldn't waste food. As did the sleep aid medication she'd long thrown out because she didn't want to sleep longer than she had to, since it was only forcing her to live her nightmares longer. "...no."

"Alright then, pot meet kettle."

"Fine, fine, but I do actually do most of the things I'm told because I don't want to be treated like a sick little kid longer than I have to." the archer said with a soft sigh. "Do I follow every little thing they say, no, do I follow the majority of them, primarily those that will help me recover faster, yes."

"Yes, you're a model patient, congratulations." Alice said, rolling her eyes. "Give me a sec, I think I have a gold star around here."

Kateri chucked a plastic spoon from the rolling table at her. "Laugh while you can, because I'm the one who gets to go rollerskating out in the real world because I behave."

"Pff, I couldn't stand up on those if my life depended on it." Kira chuckled. "I think I tried ice skating a couple times after I lost my sight, since I wasn't that bad before. I figures muscle memory would take over and I was wrong Those were not fun times."

"I bet not." Alice chimed. "Anyways, I bet you've got stuff to do since you're on such a strict schedule."

"You trying to get rid of me?" Kateri teased, glancing at her watch. Upon seeing the time, she _did_ realize that she was supposed to meet Caesar in his lab in half an hour. He was the only one who'd managed to do _anything_ to her nanites without it hurting her too badly, so she allowed him to continue trying to learn about them.

"Nah, I'd love for you to stay around longer, but you _do_ have other stuff to do and I'm fine with that." Alice said, having noted her expression when checking the time. "Just do me a favor and don't forget about us, yeah?"

Kateri smiled a bit. "Of course not."

 ***This is actually not true, both Alice and Kira are main characters of other stories of mine(Kira's being something I have actually posted here, albeit haven't updated in over a year^^;). Alice does have parents, but she left them and went into foster care because they were deemed unfit guardians. She's part of a Big Hero 6 story I've got knocking around, but I probably wouldn't post it until I finish it so it doesn't end up one of those stories that never gets an ending.**

 **Also, the vitamin deficiencies are an actual thing, I did research on which ones would create those symptoms.**

 **Hope y'all liked it, I'll see you all next week! Something big happens then, and I'm not sure how everyone's gonna take it, but we'll just see.**

 **Please leave me a review and tell me what you thought!**


	8. Letting Go

**It's that time of the week again! I'm not gonna bore anyone with rambling up here, so most of my notes will be at the bottom. Please read them, as it provides a little insight to why I did what I did, as I'm sure a few of you aren't going to be pleased with me.**

 **Starting this off, though, I'm getting in Rex's head a little. Thought the main point of things so far had been to delve into Kateri's trauma, Rex was there too, he's just coped better and gotten help over the years whereas Kateri didn't.**

 **That being said, it doesn't mean there weren't aftereffects.**

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

Drops of blood fell steadily to the ground, draining from the tiny hole that went clean through the Latino's shoulder. Once again, he could feel the sharp sting that every movement of his left arm brought, feel the tiny pokes of the bits of artificial feather that had flaked off into his skin. His surroundings were blurred and hazy, he wasn't able to make out any details.

He spun around when a flash of motion in his peripheral vision caught his attention. Nothing. His cautious chocolate gaze scanned the bleary shadows, but didn't find anything-

Something flew past his head in a harsh blur and he turned again to see the hauntingly familiar sight of an EVO with wickedly sharp claws and a whiplike tail with a lance on the end. It had an arrow jammed underneath it's jaw, the metal tip glinting at the back of it's neck. He heard a shriek behind him and spun around to see Kateri pinned to the ground, claws sunk into her shoulders. He began to run towards her, but with every step he took, she seemed to get farther and farther away as she grappled with the EVO. It's jaws were held back by mere inches as she pushed her bow against it's throat.

He then stumbled and fell at a sharp pain in his stomach and looked down to see the end or a barbed tail before it was ripped free. He could already feel poison eating away at his insides.

"Rex!" He looked up to see Kateri's green eyes wide and afraid. Kicking her feet up, she threw the EVO away and ran at him.

His eyes widened as she disregarded the monster behind her. " _No, look out-!"_

His voice choked off as he watched two rows of tiny razor teeth sink into her neck. Then, the EVO's body blocked his vision, which was likely more fortunate than he'd care to admit.

Then, he heard a hiss behind him and everything fade to black…

A sharp gasp later, and Rex was upright in his own bed, his skin coated with the glossy sheen of sweat, his sheets wrapped around his legs in a tangled mess.

"It was just a dream." He murmured, running a hand through his hair. "Just a dream…"

A dream that he knew he wouldn't be able to forget for a very long time.

Sighing, he pulled his shirt over his head, the front of it soaked in sweat. Wiping away the rest of it with it, be went to grab a clean one, but before he made it to his closet, he heard a low thud.

Pausing, he listened carefully, but he didn't hear any of the other telltale signs of the girl being trapped in a nightmare. Then, a moment later, panic slammed into him full force when the thought occurred to him that her heart may have stopped again. It wasn't the first time it would've happened while she was asleep, though it would've been the first time outside of the ICU.

But then, it only took once.

He raced across the hall, all but slamming his hand on the button to open the door. It couldn't move fast enough as he darted into the room.

Kateri was still curled up on the bed, fast asleep, the Latino having stepped close enough to hear the steady rhythm of her breathing. Glancing around, he realized the source of the noise was a small computer sliding off the bed and hitting the ground.

Picking it up, he realized it was one of the computers they had used for the mission. Curious, he lifted the lid on it, finding it didn't have a password. From the looks of it, she'd been in the process of syncing all of her music to it, her iTunes storing it online since she'd hacked into the store.

"I wonder…" He clicked through some of the files, quickly finding the file from the external hard drive, but it was empty. It looked like she'd deleted the contents of it off the computer. The actual drives themselves had been with Ema, so obviously were of no use, but he wondered why'd she would just delete so much information, especially when there was a chance that something could have been in it to help Alice or Kira.

A few moments later, he set the computer on the tiny desk. He didn't need to be going through her computer, he'd seen more than enough of those drives and there was nothing else he had a reason to see. He closed out of the folder and was about to shut the lid when another folder caught his eyes. Before he even realized what he was doing, he opened it up.

Inside it were dozens of video files, every single one of the thumbnails just Kateri's head and shoulders and what looked like the wall behind her bed. Why would she be recording herself?

Clicking on the first one, he turned down the volume until even he could barely hear it. There were a few seconds of her just shuffling around before the Navajo began to talk.

" _So, it's about three in the morning, I've been out of the ICU for four days now. Haven't been able to sleep for the past hour...well goddamn, this sounds like a stat report. Once a merc, always a merc I guess… Anyways, I haven't slept much these past few days. Rex ended up waking me up last night because I was screaming. I guess that doesn't surprise me too much, I always do when they're bad. Maybe if I'm lucky he thinks I'm only having them when I scream and not all the time. I hope so, he doesn't need my shit weighing him down too."_

The video Kateri sighed and pushed her hair from her face, many of her wounds still covered by a multitude of bandages. He could see where the long scratches on her arm were still wrapped in gauze, as well as several other bandages.

" _I hate waking him up. He probably doesn't get enough sleep as it is, and he's always going on missions and just...doing stuff. He doesn't need to be woken up every few nights because of bad dreams. I mean, I appreciate it either way, obviously, I just wish it didn't have to be that way. God, I'm sitting here talking to a computer. Oh well, I'm not really ready to open up to 'Doctor Holiday' yet, which no one can really blame me for since I'm pretty sure she hates my guts._

" _Does that make this a video diary or something? I guess that's not the worst idea, but sitting here talking to a laptop is a little...weird. Guess it's better than waking up Rex or someone...Yeah, this is stupid-"_

The feed cut off after that, but there was another video from a couple days later, totaling to over twenty of them, so clearly the thinking it was stupid didn't last long.

"Come here often?"

Rex jumped at Kateri's low voice, looking up to see her turned over and facing him, propped up on one arm. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and the muted green of her eyes glinted in the soft light. "Kateri! I, uh…"

She raised an eyebrow. "No, go on with such an eloquent explanation of why you're sitting in my room in the middle of the night going through my computer. I believe you left off at 'uh'."

"Sorry." He murmured. "I heard something hit the floor and I thought something might have happened. It was this." He pointed to the laptop.

"Okay, so that covers why you're over here at," she glanced at her watch. "Two forty eight in the morning But not why you're going through my computer." She gave him a strange look. "Also why did you feel the need to come in here in the middle of the night without a shirt? You _are_ aware you're only wearing boxers right now, right?"

Rex glanced down and realized that his chest _was_ in fact bare, never having grabbed another shirt after removing the damp one. It didn't particularly bother him that he was technically sitting in a girl's room(never mind a girl he had a huge crush on) basically half naked, but he figured it wouldn't leave that great of an impression on anyone who might walk in. "Oh, um, it was sweaty, so I took it off...yeah, didn't really grab another one."

"Okay...anything else you needed?"

Closing the computer, he set it down on her desk next to a pair of over ear headphones(a gift from Willow and Charlie when they found out her birthday had passed a month back) and stood. "No, I guess not." He began walking towards the door, but paused just before he opened it. "Um, sleeping okay?"

She sighed, knowing why he asked. "Not exactly, Rex, but it's nothing I'm not used to. I'll be fine."

Not the answer he'd really _wanted_ to hear, but at least it wasn't a lie. "Okay. Night Kateri. Or morning."

"Go to sleep." She murmured, flipping back over and curling up again.

A tiny smile ghosted on his lips, and he slipped out of the room.

(*)

"I doubt you need me to tell you not to jump, but as your supervising physician, I'm obligated to at least say something."

Kateri turned to where Holiday was walking towards her. They had begun just always having their meetings on the old landing pad. It was barely used and quiet and the archer vastly preferred it to the small office.

She was currently standing at the very edge, leaning over the drop off with one hand firmly gripping the post for one of the spotlights. "I don't know, I always thought if you believed hard enough, anybody can fly." The archer stepped back anyways, though, moving to sit on the ground by Holiday, who was sitting on a crate.

"So, it's been about a month and two weeks since you've woken up." Holiday noted like she always did. They both know Kateri kept count, but she would tell her anyways. "Your shoulder is recovering well, and faster than I'd expected with how much you've been working at the physical therapy."

"Fast enough you'd move up when I can start shooting again?" Kateri asked with an innocent smile.

"Possibly." Holiday nodded. "I planned to take an X-ray next week to see if the tendons are fully healed, and you seem to have the full range of motion with it now. Any coordination issues?"

"Not anymore. I did keep up with the little ball toss thing and it actually helped a lot." she replied, flexing her fingers.

"That's good. If everything comes up clean, I don't see any reason why you can't start using your bow again." Holiday said, smiling at the bright look on the girl's face, her excited expression a rather rare sight.

"Really? Just a week?"

"Well, next Friday, so a week and two days." Holiday replied.

The archer chewed her lip and Holiday watched at her giddiness drained away. "So...any update on my dad?"

The doctor sighed. She'd been wondering how long it would take for her to ask, but she knew Kateri had been avoiding the subject in hopes Yiska would wake up. "I think you know the answer to that, whether it's the one you want or not."

Kateri still visited her father almost every day. Most days, she'd just sit and talk to him, talking for over an hour in a one sided conversation. The archer just simply nodded. "So, I woke up at like two forty something and found Rex in my room."

"Oh?" Holiday raised an eyebrow. She already knew that Rex often woke her up at night when she would cry out in her sleep, but this was a new occurrence. "Why was he there?"

"Apparently he heard my laptop hit the floor and thought it was _me_ falling or something. I woke up and found him actually going through it." She said. The archer decided it would be best to leave out the little detail that the Latino had been clad in only boxers at the time.

"Really? Does that bother you?" Holiday asked. After doing a bug sweep on the little computer, she just let the girl keep it, fairly certain she wouldn't be doing anything particularly bad on it.

"I'm not sure." She answered, mostly honestly. "I mean, part of me knows there's nothing on there but a shit ton of music and video diary files, but I found him actually watching one of them. It's not like there's anything I'm trying to hide or something I don't want him to see, but the only reason I even _have_ those videos is because they're things I know I _need_ to talk about, but I'm just not quite ready to say yet."

That wasn't completely true, a couple of her recent videos had her talking about hallucinating her missing, assumed dead, friends, and she wasn't quite ready to open up about that yet.

"Do you think it was actually his intention to invade your privacy?"

"No." she said with little hesitation. "I don't think he'd have gone looking for them and I doubt he'd go through them again without a good reason, but I also can't ignore the fact that there had to have been a point he knew he shouldn't be looking at them and chose to keep going."

Holiday nodded. "Have you told him this?"

She shook her head. "No, but I don't really think I need to, because he knows it too. Should I say something?"

"That would be your call. How worried are you about him doing it again and what he might find?" The brunette scientist asked.

Kateri shrugged. "Not very. Like I said, I've already said a lot of the stuff in them, it's just sort of me venting to a laptop. I guess worst case scenario I could just enable the password."

Holiday just nodded, jotting down a couple notes.

The rest of the session passed rather quickly, the sun dipping behind the clouds every few minutes. Kateri also noticed that her skin was back to the honey brown similar to Rex's, maybe a shade or two lighter and more warm. After spending so many weeks shut up in hotel rooms and then in the infirmary, her skin had gone from the warm golden bronze to a light caramel. Now, spending more time in the sun since it was still warm in Mexico in December, her Navajo tan had come back rather quickly.

After she left the "therapy" session, she headed straight to her father's room. Every step she took became more and more effort, her feet feeling like they had been injected with lead. She could feel the invisible heavy gray clouds rolling in after her, chasing the archer with every footfall.

She couldn't shake the feeling that she would be condemning him by going.

She pushed open the door, it feeling much heavier beneath her palms than usual. She walked in to see a nurse changing one of the IV bags. Kateri bit her lip, her eyes dropping to the floor. She knew what it was like to have to be fed from a bag. It was not a pleasant experience, and she was only on it for two weeks, unlike the near two months he had.

"I'm sorry, I'll be through in a few minutes." The woman said, her smile soft and her dark brown eyes friendly.

"No no, go ahead, I have time." Kateri replied quickly, keeping out of her way.

True to her word, though, the nurse was gone in under five minutes, leaving the archer alone in the room with Yiska. For a good ten minutes, she couldn't move from her spot against the wall, her teeth working furiously at her lip until they broke skin and she could taste the coppery flavor of blood on her tongue. Reaching up to touch her lip, the sight of the smeary drop of blood on her fingertip was enough to snap her out of her daze and step forward, wiping away the rest with the back of her hand.

Pulling up a chair, she took up her usual spot beside his bed.

"Hi Papa. It's just me again. I just got back from 'therapy' with Holiday. I don't really know how much good they do, really. I never want to talk about anything, I only do because I won't have to be there as long if I do. Guess I'm just a little stir crazy, I hate feeling so useless. Pretty sure that's you and Mama's fault more than anything. Both of you are stubborn as all hell, which tends to cause _me_ more trouble than anything."

She was rambling and she knew it, but the girl was trying to indulge in just a few more minutes of ignorance before she had to actually face the reality she'd been trying so hard to deny. She slid her fingers through his thick ones and held the elder Navajo's hand gently, lightly pressing her lips to his knuckles. The ventilator beside her hummed, the noise resonating much more loudly in the quiet of the room. There were a couple monitors standing up beside the bed opposite to her, one recording things like his pulse, blood pressure and breathing. The other was for brain activity.

The monitor had been the same, blank screen since she'd woken up. Her father was brain dead.

"I know you can hear me." She whispered. "I don't care what they say, _I know you can_. No one's actually said anything, but you're probably not going to wake up. I'm not stupid, I know how to read those monitors better than they probably think. You're non responsive. You have no cerebral activity. I know there's pretty much no chance you'll ever wake up, and you'll never breathe on your own again. I'm sorry for that. If I'd have been faster, if I'd gotten them away in time...I'm so sorry Papa, I couldn't do enough. I tried so hard and I still failed."

Her shoulders were shaking and she let her head drop to the mattress, the tears that had begun to run down her face sinking into the fabric of the sheets. Her other hand came up to grip the fabric, cotton balled tightly in her fist as she tried to get her breathing back under control.

Leaning up on one hand, she scraped her hair out of her face and glared down at the texture of the blanket. "Now I've damned you to this. Not completely gone, never able to wake up. I've trapped you in a Purgatory that you didn't have a say in. Papa, I don't know what to do. I worked too hard to get you back to give up now. But you're just...suffering."

She stood up with one hand over her mouth and began to pace.

(*)

" _Wrap this up, kid, you're stalling now_."

"Oh come on, can't a guy have a _little_ fun?" Rex complained into his comm.

" _Not when other people are on the line, too._ " Replied Six's stern voice. " _Cure it and let's go_."

"Fine, fine." He murmured, flicking off the mic. "If she thought _I_ was Grumpy Ass, Salem shoulda met Six."

The EVO teen swooped down from the sky, twin propellers whirring on either side of him. The creature stood about as tall as a light pole, about seven different faces bubbled up like growths over it's body with several jointed appendages with a sharp point swinging around. Rex made short work of them, slicing most of them off before placing his hand between the eyes of one of the faces. It had no teeth, but a long barbed tongue that probably had some kind of poison or something.

Bright cobalt streaked over the EVO, shrinking down a few seconds later to a man with thinning hair who was probably in his forties, and, much to Rex's distaste, quite naked. A couple agents moved in, one holding a blanket to cover the man.

" _Head back up, I'll be there in a few._ " Six said. His green clad mentor was fighting another smaller, faster EVO a few blocks over.

"Will do." The orange wings spread from his back once again and the ground dropped away as the Latino flew back up to the jump jet that hovered in the sky. Sliding his phone out of his pocket, he ran his thumb lightly over the tiny crack in the corner before flicking it on and sending a text to Holiday that they'd be heading back soon.

 _I need to see you when you get here._

Raising an eyebrow as the message he asked why, but didn't get any more responses. He was debating on just calling her when Six came through the bay doors on a hoverboard. He then turned and glanced back down at the damage Rex had done.

"Two smashed walls, one crushed car, three destroyed streets and about thirty broken windows. Not bad, as far as your record goes." He noted.

"So that's good?" The EVO teen asked.

"There's still a lot of damage, but you're getting better." Six replied.

"Oh, and I'm sure you didn't break anything _at all_." Rex challenged.

"One broken lightbulb on a street light that already didn't work, by the EVO trying to flee." The green suited ninja replied without missing a beat.

"Oh come on! Not even _one_ window? That's like completely impossible!" Rex said(whined, don't lie Rex).

"For you, yes it is. Remember I've been doing this longer than you've been alive."

"That's not nearly as comforting as I feel like you think it is." Rex grumbled, plopping down in one of the seats lined up in the bay and clicking his seatbelt on. He'd learned a long time ago that trying to look cool by not wearing it was exactly how you got yourself thrown into the back wall...and all the others.

The trip back to Providence was pretty boring, just an hour spent listening to turbulence or music, depending on whether the Latino remembered to bring any headphones and if they didn't get broken. This was not one of those times.

He also sent Kateri a text that they were on their way back as well. Ever since the girl had gotten another phone, communication was a lot more convenient. However, he didn't receive a reply from her either, which he found odd. He usually got some kind of response within a few minutes, simply because she knew he had a tendency to jump to the wrong conclusion too fast.

If she and Holiday both weren't answering then…

Rex shook his head. No. It was fine. He didn't need to start freaking out, _everything was fine_. If it wasn't, Holiday would have contacted him and Six the minute something was wrong.

Wouldn't she?

But would she really? Or would she wait until their mission was over to make sure innocent people wouldn't get hurt and they would finish their job first? Oh, hello anxiety, there you are to make me doubt things…

"Get a grip, Rex." he murmured, rubbing a hand over his face. He was overreacting, just like he had last night. Even so, he still had a really bad feeling…

Sliding out his phone, he sent the girl another text, hoping he was wrong. Again, no reply.

Sighing, he leaned back against the seat. This was gonna be a long flight.

(*)

Holiday glanced up as Rex all but ran into her office. The Latino tried to play it off and did a very poor job of it. "Rex, you're back."

"Yeah. Where's Kateri?" He asked, glancing around.

She didn't answer right away. "Rex, before you run off, I need to tell you something."

His heart dropped. "Doc, please don't tell me…"

Her eyes widened a bit. "No, she's fine, to my knowledge. It's her father."

His nerves calmed the slightest upon hearing that it wasn't the girl. "Okay, what's wrong with him?"

"Rex you and I know what's wrong, what's _been_ wrong. The toxins ate away at his tissue. His diaphragm is collapsed and his heart nearly is. It got into his brain." She said, all things the Latino knew. He was aware that the man would likely never wake up.

"Doc, you're kinda worrying me here. Did something happen?" He said slowly.

Another beat of silence.

"She pulled the plug."

(*)

He'd searched everywhere, spent the rest of the day and most of the night hunting through the building despite the fact he knew she probably wouldn't be there. Finally returning to his room, he just plopped down on the edge of his bed and reached into his pocket to pull out the piece of paper he'd found on her desk, unwilling to open it sooner.

 _Rex,_

 _I'm pretty sure you're going to be the one who find this. If not, please give it to him before he tears the building apart. He tends to do things like that when he freaks out._

 _First of all, I want you to know that I'm okay, relatively speaking. Physically, I'm fine. Mentally...by this point I doubt I really need to tell you much._

 _I can't explain why I did it, not in words. At least, not the right way. He was damned to a bed for the rest of his life, and that's if he woke up at all. I don't need the pitying look of every nurse to know that would have been a pretty big miracle itself. I just...I'm sick of feeling so helpless. I was making him suffer by condemning him to that broken body, I just had to let him go. I wouldn't want someone to leave me to rot in a bed and I won't let it happen to someone else._

 _I don't plan to be gone long, maybe a week? I don't know for sure, I just know I need some time to think, to process this on my own without everyone breathing down my neck. If you can, please don't worry too much about that, I'm not going to do anything stupid._

 _Anyways, if I'm not back by then...I probably need more help than I'll be willing to admit._

 _Thanks for putting up with my shit._

 _-Kateri_

Beneath her name was an address and a time for one week from then.

He sighed, folding up the note and dropping it on the table. A week wasn't so bad. At least she bothered to leave him a note so he wouldn't worry(too much). She _did_ need some time to process what had happened, and he would wait one week.

He could do that.

 **I know all of you were wanting me to leave her father alive, and I'm already expecting to hear it in the comments, which is fine. When I posted the first chapter of this story, I'd already written eleven chapters in, so I couldn't change anything even if I'd wanted to. That said, I had never intended for Yiska to stay long, from the very beginning. As soon as I began plotting out the sequel, I couldn't find a scenario with him alive and well that would a)be an interesting story to read, especially with the RexXKateri dynamic, since it would revolve around her and her father and b)further her and Rex's relationship at all. Realistically, she'd want to break away from any of the agency-based work, which includes Providence, and she'd probably drop out of touch with Rex for a while, and at that point it would have very little to do with the show at all.**

 **I also did try not to get the audience too attached to his character, and I myself never really fleshed him out on my own(which I often do just for personal reference so I can portray them more realistically). I did my best to make it a clean break for everyone involved, in the story and those reading it. As awful as it sounds, I do feel like it's something Kateri will be able to move past, emotionally, without too much difficulty. Yes, it'll probably hurt for a while, but when you look at it objectively, she got a handful of hours with him where he was actually up and talking. She 'got her father back' for a few hours at best, and in a very tense situation. I think what's going to hurt her the most is the** ** _idea_** **of never having her family back together. She's lived like this for six and a half years, only this time, her hope died with him.**

 **Wow, that's was a depressing over-explanation if I ever saw one.**

 **Also, for those with a tumblr, I'd recommend putting my art blog, tham-draws, on push notifications so you'll get a popup on your phone whenever I post(which isn't often, don't worry). You just tap the little person icon at the top and hit 'get notifications'. I'm saying this because I've started livestreaming again as I draw, and I post links on tumblr when I do, so you'll know when I am. I use Picarto, so if you create an account you can also subscribe to my channel and get an email when I stream. I'll probably be drawing a lot of art for Gen Rex and this story, but I do other stuff too, so come by sometime!(actually, I might stream after I post this, if anyone wants to come by for a bit)**

 **SO yeah, sorry if I bored you with the obscenely long AN, they probably won't happen often. Thanks for reading, please drop me a review and tell me what you thought! See you all next week!**


	9. Only A Memory

**It's Tuesday again, so here's the next chapter! I don't plan to draw out her absence too much, maybe two or three chapters, but I think I kept them interesting enough to not bore anyone.**

 **Enjoy!**

The door jingled for the fourteenth time that morning, at least since nine twenty six. It was fairly quiet, only a few people in the little coffee shop with laptops, probably college students. The glass pane of the little shop was cool to the touch, the weather colder in the southern states then in Mexico. Gray clouds hung low and there was a light breeze, giving the city a soft, somber sort of mood.

A cup of coffee sat on the table, steam swirling away from the rim of the paper cup, ordered black with an extra shot of espresso so it tasted like the same sort of liquid death a certain pyro would make…

Kateri sipped at the pitch black drink, staring blankly out the window with the cup clasped close. She hadn't thought to bring a jacket, having forgotten that it was actually winter most places. She should get one since it was rather cold outside, but she'd been saying that for the past three days and had yet to do so.

She'd gone by her old apartment despite having said it was probably still being watched, though she never went inside. Her bike was still in it's spot, the spare key still hidden underneath the back fender. It still turned on, so she'd just taken the motorcycle and left. The papers on the bike and the name she'd used for the apartment were different, so to anyone else, it would just become an abandoned loft.

Now, she was curled up in one of the worn chairs inside a coffee shop, knees pulled to her chest in an effort to conserve heat, sipping at a small cup of strong, bitter coffee.

It was a little ridiculous with just how many things inside reminded her of her missing friends. The coffee that could raise the dead. The special on the walnut and pecan scones that the genius couldn't eat. The Minecraft keychain clipped to the barista's keys just like the one the tall blond had. Every little thing would bring back different memories from old missions, or when they would just simply meet up to screw around.

On the other side of the coin, memories of when she was young began to crop up more and more. The sweet smell of the pastries reminding her of when she and her mother would bake Christmas cookies and how her father was constantly trying to steal swipes of icing. The sound of the radio playing a song she'd watched her parents dance to in the living room. Even her own reflection resurfaced memories, seeing her parents in her own features.

Her father had been over three quarters Navajo, but her mother was only a quarter Native American and Cherokee at that. The woman had the same dark hair as Kateri and Yiska, with deep brown eyes, but her skin had been fair. Chenoa Ayita Begay, her middle name after her grandmother, who had been full Cherokee. She'd gotten many of her features from the woman.

And her father. Yiska Atsidi "Blackfeather" Begay. Blackfeather was a surname that was part of the Begay legacy from several generations back and often acknowledged as a last name, one she tended to use more than Begay. His grandmother had been Belgian, which is how the green eyes had made their way into genetics, but his father(her grandfather) had returned to the tribe lands and returned to the traditions.

She sighed and leaned back in the chair again, taking another drink of the coffee. Things like that had been running through her mind a lot the past few days, the archer just allowing herself to delve into her memories, of the less stressful times with her friends, or recollections of her life before becoming a mercenary with her family.

She was technically an orphan now. Even in the years she'd spent under Jessup, she'd never had the sense that she didn't have a family, she'd never felt fully alone in that aspect. Even though she was eighteen, she'd never felt so small and helpless, never felt like she'd needed them more than now.

Kateri had also yet to get past the irony that her eighteenth birthday had been on the day(night?) they'd gotten out of the facility, and she got the feeling that some higher power was laughing at her somewhere. She'd spent her own birthday, and Rex's now that she thought about it, in a coma.

She was definitely the life of the party.

Rex had brought it up once, asking her if she wanted to celebrate or something, but she hadn't really been in the mood, so, with the exception of Willow and Charlie, everyone just let it go.

Sighing, she chugged down the rest of the coffee and tossed the cup into the trash, picking up her backpack. The only things in it were a few sets of clothes and her phone, having left the rest of it behind. For the most part, she just wandered around the city, keeping her head down and her hair loose in case anyone was looking for her. She knew that staying in the city where she'd lived before, unarmed at that, was probably not the smartest thing to do, but she was just a little more at ease in the familiar surroundings. She knew the area and knew her way around, and was confident in her ability to stay below the radar.

Shuddering as a sharp gust of wind hit her, she rubbed her hands over her arms. Oh yeah, jacket. Swinging one leg over the motorcycle, she tugged on her helmet and started off to someplace she could get a coat. There were a million other things she knew she should be doing, but right now...jacket.

One thing at a time.

(*)

Rex sighed and stared at his phone screen. He'd sent the archer a few text messages the past few days. He hadn't received any replies, though he hadn't really expected to, either.

 _Hey, I just want to make sure you're okay._

 _You need space, I get that, I'm not gonna try to follow you._

 _I know I don't need to tell you, but I'm always here to talk._

 _Just please be safe._

He tried not to harass the girl, but it was was difficult to try not to contact her. Given his past experiences with girls just disappearing, the Latino didn't like not being able to talk to her. He tried to just leave it alone and reassure himself with the fact she _had_ left a note and told him when she'd be back, and with everything that was going on, he really didn't blame her for just needing to get away. She had every right to leave if she wanted to and had given him a perfectly good reason for it, but it wasn't easy to shake off the old emotions.

He powered off the screen and dropped the phone beside him onto his bed. Then, a moment later, he picked it up, flipping through his contacts one more."

" _Rex?_ "

"Noah, hey." The Latino began. "Just wondering if you're busy, I'm bored."

" _Really? Thought you followed Katniss around like some kind of lost puppy._ "

"Very funny." Rex grumbled. "She isn't here."

" _Scare her off or something?"_

"No, just...something happened and she left for a little while." He said.

Noah could hear the shift in his tone. " _Oh. Um, what happened?"_

"I...I really don't know if I can say." He said after a minute. "It's not that I'm trying to hide anything, but-"

" _It's her business, it's fine Rex. To answer your previous question, yes I'm busy right this second, I'm helping my mom move some stuff around, but I'll be done in around an hour. I'll meet up with you then_."

"Thanks, Noah."

" _No problem, bro, it's not like we wouldn't have anyways._ "

That was true enough. Though they didn't go places outside of Providence as much because Rex didn't want to drag Kateri along, nor just leave her there(translation, Rex is a sappy overprotective fool and wants to keep an eye on her), but the gym's basketball courts worked just as well at the ones at the park.

Pulling upright, the Latino left his phone on his bed and pulled on his jacket, heading to where the Petting Zoo used to be. Now, it was full of more training equipment a only a small handful of EVOs for more realistic training for foot soldiers. Perfect.

He wanted to tear something up.

(*)

Noah easily caught the basket ball being thrown at him by Rex, the blond tossing it almost lazily at the hoop, net swishing as it fell through. "So what have you been doing the past three days? Waiting is definitely not your forte and I doubt you decided to take up knitting."

Rex shrugged, grabbing the ball as it bounced off the floor. "Kinda just spend a lot of time breaking stuff in the Zoo if I wasn't on a mission."

"Where's Bobo been? Normally he's more than happy to help you break stuff."

Rex shrugged. "He keeps saying I smell like a teenage stereotype and doesn't want to spend all his time following around some girl. Can't say I blame him, but it's not hard to get him to come around. All you need is the promise of pizza and Grand Theft Auto, but Holiday's been putting me on more missions to keep me occupied, so it's kinda been a while."

"Probably a good idea since you don't do well with restless." Noah commented.

"That would be a no." he said, shooting the ball at the hoop. It spun around the rim a few times before tipping...outwards, and back onto the floor. "Seriously?"

"I don't understand how you can be so freaking good at ping pong and volleyball and suck to bad at basketball. Like, volleyball and basketball aren't even that different, and you can't make it in the hoop to save your own life." Noah said as Rex glared at the ball bouncing to the wall.

"I'll let you know if I ever have an answer for you there." He grumbled, scooping up the ball and shuffling back to where Noah was. "I just wish I knew what I could _do_. Obviously, I have no experience with girls, and definitely not traumatized ones. She needs help and I don't know how to do that."

Noah raised an eyebrow. "If that's what you're wanting to do, get ready for some disappointment, because you're probably not going to be able to do that."

"Thanks so much, you're a great friend." Rex said, sarcasm dripping from his tone like syrup.

"No, just hear me out. I know you're just wanting to help her, to fix it, that's what you do. But there isn't some EVO for you to smack around here. Her demons are in her own mind and she's the only one who can take them down. Not you, not Holiday, not anyone but her, and she will when she's ready. Rex, she isn't needing someone to fight her battles for her, what she really needs is a friends, someone to lean on."

Rex was quiet for a moment, considering his friend's words. As much as he didn't want to believe it, Noah was probably right. He'd known for a long time that Kateri didn't need _anyone_ to protect her, that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. But just like Noah had said, the enemy was in the Navajo's own mind, and he hated the fact it left him with no other choice than to sit back and watch.

Perhaps it _had_ been best that she'd left for a little while, because he _would_ have smothered her, more than he tended to already.

"Where did you read that from, because I know you didn't come up with that all on your own." The Latino asked after a moment.

Noah just grinned and flipped the ball through the hoop again. "No one ever said the wise man had to be the old man." He caught the bouncing ball. "Actually, my old therapist said something similar, except from her perspective to me. I'd said she was supposed to be helping me, and she told me that the only one who can really help me, is me."

Shortly after the battle with the other Meta Nanites, Noah had chosen to go to therapy sessions for a few months, after his mother had approached him about it. It hadn't been particularly serious, but he'd developed some anxiety from it and decided it might be a good idea.

"Yeah, I guess. It just bugs me not being able to do anything." He murmured.

"And cue hero complex." Noah grinned, throwing the ball at Rex's face.

The EVO teen actually managed to catch it, giving the blond a mock glare. "I do not have a hero complex."

"That's exactly what someone with a hero complex would say."

A moment later, the blond spun around and took off at the sinister grin on Rex's face, the Latino right on his heels.

(*)

"Are you alright, uh, Kate?"

Kateri glanced up at the barista, a boy with side swept light brown hair and hazel brown eyes. Her coffee cup was in his hand. "Why?"

He shrugged. "You've come in here every day just a little after nine, order the same thing, sit in the same spot, and just stare out the window for a couple hours. Something's up."

She bristled a bit. "I don't really think that's any of your business."

"Maybe not." He relented, handing her the cup. "But I'd rather have asked and been told to piss off than not say anything and it would have helped."

She accepted the hot drink. "Sorry, just...my dad died kinda recently and I just found out my mom's been dead for a few years and it's… a complicated situation."

"Oh. I'm sor-...I hope you do better."

She raised an eyebrow at his cut off words.

"I kinda don't like telling people I don't know 'I'm sorry for your loss' and stuff, since it's kinda insincere coming from a stranger." He said sheepishly.

"I...thanks." Was the only thing she could think to say.

"No problem." The boy smiled at her. "Name's Danny, by the way."

" _Daaaamn, Daniel, back at it again with flirting with customers_!" One of the other workers called, a girl with a similar haircut to Jordan's, but the short part was on the other side of her head and blond. She was sliding fresh pastries into the display case.

"I'm not flirting, Sam, can you please let that stupid meme die already?" Daniel gave a heavy sigh, glancing back at Kateri who was stifling a small laugh. "You don't even get it, I wore white shoes one day before I'd heard of that stupid thing and you'd think there was a full choir chanting that every few minutes, the customers were going nuts."

This time, Kateri actually let out a small laugh, which surprised her. She didn't think she'd actually even smiled since before…

"Look, you can laugh!" Danny said teasingly with a crooked little smile. "You should do that more, it's much nicer than a scowl."

Kateri blushed a bit. "I'll keep that in mind."

"So then I guess I'll see you around?" He asked.

"Probably, at least for another few days." She replied.

"A few more days? You leaving town or something?"

"Danny, stop flirting and do your job." Sam chided. "If Leigh sees you, she'll probably fire you."

Kateri could hear the irritation in the girl's voice, assuming that "Leigh" was the manager or something.

"Right, right. Later, Kate. Cool necklace by the way." He said, nodding at the arrow head.

The archer made her way over to the chair she generally sat in, pulling out her phone and sliding in her earbuds as she put her music on shuffle.

The overcast sky had begun to clear up and, while it was still quite cold, the sun had broken up the clouds and brought scattered spots of bright light to the ground.

 _Well they can try to sink us, but I'll just swim_

 _But my will is stronger than a gale force wind_

 _Look out, look out, 'cause each time I fall_

 _I'll be crashing down, right through your door_

Her fingers tapped lightly along with the beat, watching the cars pass by as the fiddled with the little silver charm around her neck. She'd replaced the little dove necklace as well after she'd returned from dinner that night, the hemp cord much longer than the silver one, the little wooden charm hidden beneath her shirt.

 _I hope you do better._

Was she doing better? She'd been gone four days now, refusing to answer any of Rex's texts. No one else had tried to contact her, though Holiday and Six were the only other people at Providence with her contact, and she knew neither of them would reach out to her for a while.

She didn't know. As soon as she'd left Providence, having stolen a small jet until she got to the city where could take a bus, setting the craft to autopilot and giving it coordinates for Providence. Once she'd gotten on that bus and didn't have to concentrate on flying, the girl had broken down, spending most of the bus ride in violent, though silent, sobs.

...and most of the night after she'd rented a motel room, paying in cash under a false name. It was a very good thing she had chosen not to bring any weapons with her, or she'd likely have completely destroyed the room. She ended up leaving with only one broken lamp, a broken mirror and a ragged dent in the wall.

The next day, she'd apologized and left money for the damages before retrieving her motorcycle(of which she meticulously checked for any kind of tracker or bug before taking) and just began to ride around, looping through the familiar blocks for hours.

She was past the crying now, but the gray shroud that it had carried with it still clung to her shoulders and she knew it would be a long time before she would be able to shed it.

Glancing down into her half full cup at the lightly sloshing inky black liquid, she idly wondered what Rex was doing back at Providence. Probably driving everyone up the walls. She was sure she would be hearing some complaints over that, but she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

She flicked to the next song on her mp3 player. Not that she didn't like _Cannonball_ , but it was just a little too upbeat and was grating her nerves. The next song that cropped up was _Hold Me Now_ by _Red_ , and she decided to go ahead and let it play.

 _Fall asleep to dreams of home_

 _Where the waves are crashing_

 _The only place I've ever known_

 _Now the future has me_

The guitar and piano flowed together is a much...smoother tune than the previous and was absent of the whistling and clapping _Cannonball_ had.

 _I see fire in the sky_

 _See it all around me_

 _I said the past was dead, the life I had is gone_

 _Said I won't give up until I see the sun_

The girl had the sudden urge to draw for some reason, flipping over her receipt and digging a pen out of her pocket. She couldn't draw for shit, but it was better then sitting and wallowing in self pity.

 _Hold me now till the fear is leaving_

 _I am barely breathing_

The tip of the ballpoint pen left light black lines as she doodled a little bird on the scrap of paper, meant to be a dove. Her other hand lightly brushed over the fiber cord around her neck.

 _Waking up and letting go_

 _To the sound of angels_

 _Am I alive or just a ghost_

 _Haunted by my sorrows_

Little curved lines made the rough approximation of feathers on the wings and breast, and a little swooped line and a dot became an eye.

 _Hope is slipping through my hands_

 _Gravity is taking hold_

 _I said I am not afraid, that I am brave enough_

 _I will not give up until I see the sun_

She then doodled a little halo over the bird's head, flicking in a few small lines to make it look like it was glowing.

 _Hold me now till the fear is leaving_

 _I am barely breathing_

 _Crying out, these tired wings are falling_

 _I need you to catch me_

Next to it, she drew a little crescent moon and a few little stars. Then a ladybug. Then a paw a leaf, until tiny little doodles covered the back of the slip of paper. Little gears that, somewhat, interlocked, flame patterns tracing up the side, symbols from a language from a book she'd read when she was young. Most of them looked like they'd been done by an eight year old, but the archer couldn't find it within herself to care in the slightest, she'd just been bored.

"Good band, but Green Day's better."

She glanced up to see Abe, or at least an illusion of him, sitting in the chair across from her. "Never really got into them, I only like a handful of songs." she replied, her voice low so others wouldn't overhear.

"Eh, you like the best ones, so I can let it slide." The tall boy's blue eyes swept around the little shop. "Is this the same place Ema got everyone free drinks for beating the owner in trivia crack?"

A small smile. "No, that's a few blocks over, this one is less crowded. I think that he's even still the owner of that place."

"Maybe we should go back sometime."

"Sure, if you guys ever-" she trailed off when she realized the blond teen was no longer there.

Then, as she traced over a select few of the little pen marks, she felt that hollow sadness wanting to creep back up. Scrunching up the paper, she tossed it and the cup into the trash, shoving her hands into her pockets and slipping out the door.

 ***COUGH* SO I may have a shameless self insert in here(the other female coffee barista). I normally use another character as a background character like that, but pretty much all of my other OCs were used as the test subjects from before so I could keep up with them and now have to flesh out background characters. Also, I want to mention that my hair USED to be like down to the waistband of my jeans(and auburn/wavy, I used to look exactly like Willow, but that's not relevant right now), and I ended up cutting most of it off after I fleshed out Jordan's design because I liked it so much. The blond is purple now, but I felt the need to tell you all that I legit cut off a ponytail of hair over a foot long because of an OC.**

 **ALSO I LOVE THAT STUPID DAMN DANIEL MEME. WHEN I START POSTING A DANNY PHANTOM STORY IT WILL B E.**

 **Clearly my priorities are where they should be.**

 **So yeah, please drop a review and tell me what you think! See y'all next week with chapter 10!**


	10. The House That Built Me

**Hey guys, I'm so sorry I'm late, I finally just got a job and I've been struggling a little with time management since I'm not used to it, but two days isn't as bad as I have been! Also, I turn 18 this weekend, so imma finally be a verified big girl! *grins and shakes head slowly* Excuse me while I return to my pillow fort to color.**

 **This is one of my favorite chapters from when she was gone. As promised, she goes back next chapter, I figured like 5 chapters of her derping around in Arizona alone and grieving would be pretty boring so I skipped a lot.**

 **Enjoy!**

Two more days. He had to wait two more days and then he was supposed to meet Kateri. Just two days. He could keep his shit together for two more days, right? He glanced at the clock again, having woken up at 2:09 that morning and wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon.

2:16. He groaned. Waiting was hard.

Sitting up, he picked up his phone again, glancing at his notifications. Not that he'd expected anything, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment when it was blank. He wondered how she was holding up. Probably not all that great, if he was honest with himself, but he was well aware she could handle herself. After all, she'd been doing so for over six years before they had met.

Didn't change the fact he wished she was back, though. Every part of his just wanted to shake the girl and shout " _just shut up and be protected_ ". It would probably just earn him a punch in the gut and a scoff, but that didn't change the fact that he wanted to. Maybe Noah was right, maybe he did have a hero complex.

...nah. You're supposed to be protective of people you care about, that doesn't equal hero complex. Obviously.

He reached over and grabbed his own headphones, plugging one end into his phone and sliding them over his ears as he played one of the playlists on the device. Leaning back, he just stared up at the ceiling, brows knit.

What would happen once she was back? He didn't just want to hover around her all the time, that was the exact reason why she had left, but he wasn't going to ignore the fact that she had to be in immense emotional pain. Almost everyone that she'd spent six years either working beside or working to get back were dead or missing. Trauma was just stacking itself higher and higher on the Native American girl and Rex wondered how much longer she was going to be able to hold with without either collapsing or letting someone else share the burden.

If he could, he'd take it all. But she'd never allow that, she was far too stubborn.

He fidgeted for another minutes, flipping through the songs and rarely letting it play for more than a minute before switching to another one. He let the next one play for about thirty seconds before sliding out of bed and pulling on some clothes. He knew he wasn't going back to sleep, might as well get up. Quietly leaving his room, the Latino headed for the closest exit.

He needed tacos.

(*)

The bell on the door at the front of the coffee shop chimed as Kateri walked through it, Danny's head popping up. "One regular medium coffee with an extra shot of espresso, black?" He asked, holding up a paper cup.

She cracked a small grin. "Guess I can't blame you for knowing my order by now. Where's your sassy little memeing friend?" She'd noticed the other girl, Sam, was absent that day, and that the shop was quieter without her.

"Oh, she's off today. She works mornings Tuesday through Thursday and Saturdays, I work all weekday mornings since I'm a freshman in college." He replied. "She'll be here again tomorrow if the silence is too much and you're not already sick of everything wrong with recent cartoons."

"Yeah, she'd have gotten along with someone I...used to know. The smallest little comment could send her into an entire rant about how lazy animators and writers have gotten with these simplified styles and trashy plots…" Kateri chuckled. "If you can find it online somewhere, she's probably gone off about it before."

Danny laughed as well, the sound waning off after a moment. "So, um, I wanted to ask you, are you busy this afternoon?"

She glanced back at the boy with an eyebrow raised, a light blush over his cheeks. "Thought you just said you're in college?"

"I don't have classes on Fridays." He rubbed the back of his neck. "A couple of my friends and I were just gonna play laser tag at three and someone couldn't make it, so there's an extra slot. You just seemed like you've been kinda down lately and could use some fun. It's totally fine if you don't want to, I just thought-"

"Where is it?" She cut off his rambling. "I'm not gonna make any promises, but I might come."

Danny broke into a grin. "Great! It's just at the mall, you know the old arcade there?" She nodded. "Well, they built a new one and converted the old one into this laser tag center thing. I went once before and it's actually pretty nice."

"I might just have to check it out, but I'm gonna warn you, I'm pretty good at it." She said with a smirk.

"Oh really? Because my friend Kasey holds the record right now. Up for a challenge?" He asked, leaning onto the edge of the counter.

"I think I can handle a few boys who are gonna underestimate a girl." She replied.

"Well we'll just see about that, won't we?" He said.

"I guess we will." She replied, turning and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Danny asked and she paused. "You usually chill here for a couple hours."

"I've got a couple things I need to do." She replied, her tone clipped.

"Oh, um...okay. See you around, Kate."

The only response he got was a small head nod and the chime of the door.

(*)

Kateri stared blankly down at the paper in her hand, then up at the building in front of her. Everything around her was _so familiar_ , and yet, she felt incredibly out of place. The stone encirclement that once held a garden. The unkempt, messy grass that was overgrown with weeds and shrubs. The sumac tree to her right, the very same one that she'd learned she was _very_ reactive to poison sumac.

The house that she'd grown up in until she was eleven.

Sighing, she walked forward, picking through the weeds on the nearly covered sidewalk as she made her way to the front door, looking worn from lack of care. She'd had the deed transferred to her lockbox some time ago, able to pull a few strings with Jessup's influence to do so since she was underage and had no way to actually get her parent's approval.

"It's just a building, what are you waiting for?" Ema asked, but Kateri ignored her, walking past the tree she stood by.

She pulled out a little multi tool keychain that lived on her keys to pick the lock, but paused before she'd touched the knob. Taking a couple steps back, she she pried away up edge of a piece of trim just a bit and saw that the spare key was still there, much to her surprise. Pulling it out, she slid it into the lock, having to wiggle it a bit since it was sticky from years of disuse. She was actually pretty surprised that it hadn't been broken into by this point. A moment later, the door swung open.

Stepping inside, the first thing she registered was the slight smell of dusty cinnamon, just like the candles her mother used to burn all the time. She remembered how, used to, you could open the door and just about be knocked down by the smell. She'd gotten something of a reputation at school for always smelling like cinnamon because of it.

Glancing around, she saw that very little had actually changed aside from a thick layer of dust coating every available surface. She vaguely remembered that they'd had a small little Calico cat named Bean, the runt of the litter. She idly wondered what had happened to the poor creature, since no one had ever come home for her. Hopefully she just ran away.

"Cinnamon is nice, your mom had good taste." Salem commented, squinting at the frames on the walls before wandering around the corner.

The same pictures still lined the walls, most of the glass panes on them coated in a film making the photos blurry. Digging one of the napkins from the coffee shop out of her pocket, she stopped and began to clean each one of them meticulously, wiping away at the dust until the glass was clear one again.

Her parents both had always loved pictures, and most of the walls had several on them, most of them having her in them somewhere. Others were before they'd had her, with anniversary photos, dates, reunions. If her recollections served her, here were three or four more picture albums in the hall closet around the corner. Kateri felt as though she could create a play by play of the first eleven years of her life and half of her parent's from the pictures alone.

One particular picture of her mother and father, a beautiful shot from their wedding in a gold leafed filigree frame, was lingered on longer by the archer. Her eyes scanned every detail of the image, despite having memorized them long ago. Instead of replacing it, she slipped the picture into her backpack, and after a moment, grabbed the one of the family portrait that had been taken shortly before they were captured as well.

Wandering into the kitchen, she reached out and twisted the knob on the faucet. Nothing came out, which really shouldn't have surprised her, nor should the light switch that didn't work when she flipped it. The house and land were completely paid for, but none of the other bills had been kept up with, the utilities shut off long ago. Not entirely sure why, she opened the refrigerator, rust creeping at the edges of the stainless steel door. A sharp odor wafted from the appliance, but after six and a half years, it wasn't very strong. Shriveled husks of old fruit, plastic and glass containers filled with some kind of brown mush, jugs of juice that had long separated and had thick clouds of...something floating in them. There were also a few bottles of water, which she guessed would probably be okay, though she had no plans to find out for sure. After a minute, she pushed the door shut.

More wandering brought her to her parent's old room. Her hands smacked sharply against the bedding, kicking up a massive cloud of dust as she tried to clear it away. After she sneezed about four times in succession, she decided it would probably be best to abandon that endeavor.

Stepping over to their dresser, she flipped open her mother's old jewelry box. She found herself somewhat disappointed that her wedding ring wasn't inside, because Chenoa would sometimes leave it at home so it didn't get lost or damaged while at work. She just sighed and flipped it closed, not really finding anything that she thought was worth keeping. She had to draw a line somewhere with sentiment, or she'd be wanting to bring half the remaining contents of the house with her.

Pulling the door to the room shut, she moved back through the house, her feet making no sound as they left impressions in the thick dust. She stepped up the stairs, the old wood squeaking lightly beneath her boots.

"Your making an awful lot of noise for a spy." Abe criticized at the squeaks.

"Shut up, this is my house."

Once she reached the top, there was a bathroom in front of her and a bedroom to either side of her. She let her fingers trail lightly over the wall where old marker lines still were from when she'd taken a sharpie to the drywall when she was seven. Then, turning to the right, she walked into her old room, the door slightly ajar.

The walls were still painted the same light rusty orange that she'd chosen years before, still loving how warm and inviting it made the room feel. It clashed horribly with the coral reef bedspread, which was also covered in enough dust to almost completely obscure the patterns, but she hadn't cared.

Models of different ocean animals hung from the ceiling, though many strings had broken by now and one of them had fallen to the floor. The rest were all dirty and dingy with very little of the colors showing through anymore. Walking closer, she saw a lump in the middle of her bed up by her pillows and stepped forward.

Brushing at the dust a bit, she'd at first thought it was another model, though she hadn't remembered one being directly above her bed. Then, a large chunk of the lint stuck together and pulled away, revealing what it was. She paused and then drew back.

It was the skeleton of a cat, on the small side. Bean.

Sighing, Kateri picked up the top part of the skull, regarding it with a tired look. "I'm honestly kinda surprised you ended up here, little girl, Mama's the one who fed you. 'Course, I guess I always did give you a lot of meat scraps. Bet you were just mad at her for not coming back, huh? Is that why you're up here, Little Bean?." She ran her thumb over the smooth bone, much like she did when the cat still had flesh and fur, would purr and nuzzle under her touch. "You always did like my bed though, anytime I wasn't in it, you kept my pillow warm… I'm going fucking insane, I'm standing here talking to a cat skull."

"Actually, most people would call you insane for talking to people who are dead." Ema said.

"You're not dead." the archer replied stubbornly.

"And yet, you don't believe that, do you? Or even if you do, there's a part of you that knows that it probably isn't true. Arrow, you're many things, but stupid isn't one of them. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the odds weren't in our favor."

"I don't care, they usually aren't. Abe's been abe to do things that should have been impossible, hell all of you have, so I have no reason to think it was different here."

Ema just sighed and shook her head, walking out of the room.

She went to put the skull back where she'd found it, but couldn't bring herself to just leave the bones there, all curled up, alone. She'd left too many people alone, and it weighed on her mind more than one would have thought to leave the cat there too. She walked over to her old closet, full of hanging clothes that were now too small. She dug out an old shoebox, just dropping the gray flats onto the floor of the closet.

"Sorry you're stuck in an old Foot Locker box, but I guess it's better than just sitting out here in the open for some animal to carry off." She murmured, tugging off the pillowcase and cracking it a couple times to shake free the dust before slipping it partly into the box. She then carefully laid the bones into the box, trying to keep them in their curled up form. She then tucked the other side of the pillowcase over top so the bones were securely wrapped in the fabric.

Holding the box, she walked back down the stairs and out the back door. There were a couple trees and an overgrown patio, as well as a shed tucked several feet back, which was looking pretty sad by now, as it had been run down when she'd lived there. Fortunately, it was a fairly large property, so she doubted there would be any nosey neighbors. Crossing to the shed, she ended up having to kick the door open because one of the hinges had broken and left the heavy door sitting on their ground. Once inside, she saw it still only had garden tools and lawn equipment in it-oh, and a raccoon. Lovely.

She sidestepped the creature as it ran by, then took a few steps inside to grab a shovel. She just left the door open as she walked back out. Everything was already rusty because the roof leaked, and there was nothing worth stealing inside, so she didn't bother.

Taking the shovel and the box to the silverleaf maple, she carefully set the cardboard container on the ground and slammed the shovel into the ground.

(*)

"Hey, Kate!"

Kateri turned to see Danny approaching with three more boys and a short blond girl with him. She gave a halfhearted wave.

" _Daaaaamn, Daniel_." One of his friends, the tallest of the group with longer black hair, blue eyes and snakebite piercings, say. "So it this that regular with the cute accent you won't shut up about? She kinda sounds like those blue aliens from that one movie if they'd learned better English."

Danny turned red and punched the kid's shoulder. "Fuck off, Devon." He hissed.

This time, a boy with short black hair and brown eyes spoke."Really? You don't want her to hear about how you keeping going on and on about the way 'her eyes sparkle when she laughes' or how 'it's like she glows when-'" the rest of his words were cut off by Danny's hand smacking loudly over his mouth, his other arm moving to wrap around his neck in a loose chokehold.

"Sorry Vinnie, what was that?" Danny asked as the other boy, Vinnie, struggled.

"C'mon Danny, they're just screwing around." Said the last boy, with light brown hair like Danny's and green eyes, his arm wrapped around the blue eyed blond's waist.

"Yeah, yeah, they better knock it off, I didn't even say half that shit." He said, releasing Vinnie. "So, Kate, this is my friend Kasey." Danny gestured to the green eyed boy. "He is the holder of the current highest score."

"I hear you're wanting to beat it." He smirked.

"Hm, good luck with that." The blond girl glanced her up and down with a critical eye, earning an eyebrow raise from Kateri, but the archer said nothing.

"Hey, play nice Nicky." Kasey murmured into the girl's ear, placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Yeah, sorry, Nicole's kinda a bitch when other girls compete for her man." Devon snickered.

"I do _not_." Nicole grumbled.

"I'm competing with, not for." Kateri said, trying to play nice with this girl.

Nicole only _hmmphed_ in reply.

"Hey, sorry, forgot to ask earlier, are you over eighteen?" Danny asked. "We play the advanced laser tag because they open up both floors of the arena and it's more fun."

Kateri nodded. "I've got my ID."

"Great, let's play." He led the group inside.

The overall layout at the front was vastly different. It looked like they had kept a couple of the video games and there were a few of those stupid ass crane games against one wall, but the main floor had been cleared out for tabled by a small food court. But the entire space was considerably smaller than she remembered, even knowing that about half the place in the back had been for pool tables and card games. It looked like the space at the front was now just there to occupy people a bit while waiting for their turn at laser tag.

They lined up to get wristbands for the game. Danny waited on Kateri as she handed the woman her license. "Wait, I thought your name was Kate?" Danny asked, confused.

Kateri paused, glancing down at the card with her real name on it.

"Oooh, she gave you a fake name, burn." Vinnie laughed.

"No no, that's just what I tell people so they can pronounce it." She said quickly. "My name's actually Kateri because I'm Navajo, but most people don't say it right. That's why I told you Kate, just a nickname."

"Oh. Okay." Danny just shrugged, seeming pretty unbothered by it. "Kateri...sounds pretty, though."

The Native American girl's cheeks reddened. "...thanks."

"I promise you're not as smooth as you think you are." Kasey said as he fastened Nicole's wristband for her. "How you managed to get her to come in the first place is a mystery to me."

"I took my lessons from you, so Nicky must have some pretty low standards." Danny replied with a grin. The blond stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey, we're up." Danny said, then he turned to Kateri with a grin. "Ready to show us what you're made of?"

Kateri's face stretched into a grin as well. Holiday would be mad at her for this, it was probably not something she should be doing. " _Hell_ yes."

The group walked into the narrow hallway between the actual arena and the waiting area where the vests and guns were stored. After showing their wristbands, everyone began strapping on the equipment, their vests lit up purple while the opposite team's were green.

"So, have you played laser tag before?" Danny asked as he tugged the Velcro straps into place on the bulky vest.

Kateri nodded. "I've been a few times with my friends when I'd see them. We weren't always super close to each other, but we'd go do something fun when we had the time."

"Oh, that's cool. So do they live somewhere else or something?" He continued.

"...kinda. They move around a lot." she replied, yanking around her own vest a bit to make it fit a bit more snugly so she could move around a bit better. She'd done a better job than the majority of the other players in getting the vest on, but she also figured they haven't spent a third of their live putting on combat armor. She then grabbed the laser gun from the rack, attached to the vest by a stretchy spring cord. A buzzer rang out from over the door.

"We're up." Danny said with a grin as the group moved forward. "Please expect me to follow you around so I can see these kickass laser tag skills for myself."

A devilish smirk quirked at her lips as they became enveloped in neon lights and fog. "Keep up I dare you."

And with that, she darted into the arena as the game begun.

(*)

Danny panted and wiped at the sweat on his forehead, looking around for Kate...Kateri. He'd only seen her a couple times since the game had begun and it was the final round. He'd admit, the girl moved pretty fast and she was obviously good at blending it with as little as he'd seen of her. Maybe she _could_ give Kasey a run for his money.

A beam of light flashed along his vest and he stepped back behind a barricade to keep from getting shot. He was working his way to the green team's target where the most points w=could be gained. Catch was, it had to be shot from point blank range.

"Come here often?"

He jumped and turned to find the Navajo girl crouched down, her gun propped in an opening. He glanced out to find that she was actually hitting someone with almost every shot. "Damn, you can shoot."

"It's not exactly a bow, but it'll do." She said quietly.

"A bow? Like archery?" He asked, but she moved before he could get an answer, running out from behind it and rolling behind another one, effectively dodging the entire spray of shots fired at her. Danny's eyes widened as she easily hoisted herself _on top_ on the cover wall and began hopping along them, firing the whole way.

She then came to a group of three green players who were guarding the big target. He watched as she flipped off the wall and landed in a crouch. One foot came out to knock the biggest person on the ground as she fired at another. She then rolled to the side to dodge the shots from the third person, the other standing one's vest bright red and gun not working. A well placed shot also locked the third person's vest.

By this point, the person she'd knocked over was on his feet. He charged forward in an attempt to just yank her gun away from her, but she simply bent back to avoid his hands. She then rolled between his legs, letting go of her gun halfway through to push off the floor and kick the bulky teen to the ground again. Her body moved into an arc and she was still on her feet, snagging her gun, which dangled at her side, and shooting the kid in the back, locking his gun.

Jumping back onto the cover wall, the opened fire on the target, racking up points with the last minute and fifteen seconds of the five minute round, with no players around to stop her, the other three forced to return to where the gear was kept once their guns had been locked. They unlocked after every round, but since it was the final round, there wasn't a point in remaining in the arena.

"Holy shit, you are good." Danny called, running up to where she was and shooting at the target as well. "Where the hell did you learn to do stuff like that."

"I've been in a lot of self defense classes." She replied with a grin. Not really a lie.

"Hell of a defense class." He murmured. "Can you do that parkour stuff too?"

She shrugged. "Never tried, but probably not at first. Have a friend who can, though, he's pretty much a ninja."

"That's cool. He from around here?"

"Nah, none of my friends are." She replied as the final buzzer went off.

Danny reached up to help the girl down from the wall, more to just be polite since he obviously knew she didn't actually need his help. She raised an eyebrow at him and crouched down before doing a dramatic flip over his head and landing behind him with very little noise.

"Okay, that one was just showing off." He said, dropping a hand to his side. "You sure you're not some kind of ninja too? Most people can't do that stuff."

"I'm not most people." She said with a half smirk, half smile turning as they began to walk back.

"No you definitely aren't." Danny had a goofy grin on his face, just out of sight of the girl. "C'mon, let's go see the tally. Thanks for letting me rack up points, by the way."

She scoffed. "Please, you wouldn't have had shit if I hadn't gotten through first and taken everyone out."

"Exactly, so that's for making me look good."

She lightly smacked his shoulder as they rejoined the group in the middle area. The entire group stood around the scoreboard, seeming to just be staring at the screen. Danny and Kateri managed to get over to it to check thier scores. Danny was third on the list, having gotten so many points from hitting the green team's main target, but hadn't really been playing before then in his attempt to keep up with the archer. Kasey's was second, only a few points behind his own high score.

Kateri's name, however, flashed at the top, flickering different colors to show she'd broken the current record.

"Well son of a bitch." Kasey said. "You literally beat me by over half of my original score. Did you even get tagged once?"

"Nope." Kateri gave a smug grin.

"Yeah, don't get too full of yourself." Nicky sniffed, her score being the second to last.

Kateri gave the girl an irritated look. "I just beat the current high score by a lot, I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to be a little proud of myself for that. You've been rude as hell since you walked through the door, and I've barely looked at you, and I'd appreciate if you'd back the fuck off me."

Hanging up her vest and gun, she walked out of the crossroom.

"Hey, Kate!" Danny called behind her, and she paused to let him catch up. "Sorry about her, she's kinda...hard to get along with when your first meet her."

"That's an understatement." Kateri murmured.

"She's kinda had some stuff going on recently, too, her parents are talking about filing for divorce and Kasey just got a job where they don't get much time anymore. I don't think she really wanted to spend that time here." Danny explained.

"Yeah, well, in case you forgot, I've had some pretty messed up shit going on recently too, which I think kinda outweighs that personally, but I'm not acting like that." She replied.

"Maybe you're right, and you're not the first person to kinda go off on her, but I get the feeling you've dealt with this kind of stuff a lot before and know how to handle it better." He said. "She hasn't and she doesn't know what to do except lash out."

Kateri bit her lip. She hated to admit it, but she knew what he meant, because she had done the same. "Perceptive little shit, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "I can usually get a decent read on people. But not really with you, which actually tells me a lot. You don't trust people easily and you tend to hold everyone at arm's length, but you try to hide that. Most people who do that kinda tend to broadcast it, but with you, it's more like you can't help but second guess everyone but you don't want to. Something had to have happened to cause that."

"Really perceptive little shit." She murmured.

"Hey, it's fine to have problems." He said, the rest of the group a few paces away. "I'm not gonna try to get in your business, but it's not a bad thing to let your guard down a little. You don't have to go around telling your life story to everyone, but people aren't really as out to get you as you'd think."

"Still not smooth." Devon said from behind Danny. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say your little coffee shop babe is unimpressed."

Kateri raised an eyebrow. "'Coffee shop babe'?"

"He's just being an ass." Danny glared at his friend from over his shoulder, but the boy with the lip piercings only laughed. "I swear to god I don't call you that."

Kateri got a sinking feeling in her stomach as some of Danny's actions flitted through her mind.

"Still, your flirting can use some work." Vinnie spoke up.

Danny turned red again, his voice low. "Can you not, she's literally standing right there. Standing here and making fun of me isn't going to help my case if I'm gonna try to ask her out."

Kateri blanched a bit as the penny finally dropped and Danny's intentions clicked into place. "You..You were gonna ask me out? Is...was this a date or something?"

Danny looked awkwardly at the ground, stepping away from his friend's earshot. "Well, I mean, it wasn't specifically meant to be one, but you could call it that, yeah. I mean, I _was_ planning to ask you out, but I figured it'd be a little weird if your coffee barista did, so I kinda thought this might be a better idea."

"So, you did plan this, no one cancelled." She continued. She felt pretty slow for not having picked up on his intentions sooner.

"No, kinda just hoped you'd be more inclined to come if I said that." The fact that he'd used a white lie to get her to come didn't bother her at all, but the fact he'd gone out of his was _so_ she would come. "Look, I'm sorry if I made this weird. You're a really pretty girl, Kateri, and easy to talk to and I just kinda wanted to get to know you more-"

"Danny." Kateri cut him off. "I'm...I'm really sorry if I've been leading you on, but I'm not looking for anyone right now." Her hand unconsciously went to fiddle with the silver arrowhead necklace.

He caught the movement and understanding lit his features. "You have a boyfriend."

"N-No, that's not…" she trained off as she considered his words. Is that what Rex was? She still wasn't quite sure what to call her feelings for the Mexican teen. She wasn't really the romantic type(call it what you want, denial ain't just a river), but she also knew they were definitely more than friends. It also then hit her for the first time how _much_ she actually missed the Latino. "That isn't what I'm getting at."

"It's fine, you don't have to explain anything." He said. "I shouldn't have made assumptions. Are we still coffee shop bros, at least?"

Kateri sighed, unable to hide a small grin. "Coffee shop bros is great." As she said it, something else crossed her mind. "Actually, something else I forgot to mention, I'm leaving tomorrow, too."

"Wait, you are?" He said in a disappointed tone.

"Yeah, I never said anything before, I kinda forgot, but I don't live around here anymore. With everything that's happened in my life, I've been...somewhere I can get help. Not like a mental hospital or anything, but just somewhere that people are looking out for me and care about me."

Danny chewed his own lip a moment, looking a bit dejected, but he tried to brush it away. "Yeah...Yeah, okay. Um, do you think we can stay in touch or something? Let me know if you swing into town again for another round of laser tag? As friends?"

He held his hand out to her. After a moment of consideration, she reached out and shook it.

"Yeah, I think I can manage that."

 **Don't worry too much about keeping up with Danny and his friends, they probably won't make another major appearance. Also, a guest asked if last chapter was a reference to Danny and Sam from Danny Phantom, and I can honestly say I didn't actually notice that at all until they said something. My actual name(well, nickname) is Sam(ask any of my friends, I'm practically the living embodiment of Sam Manson, I'm like a professional goth or something haha) and Daniel/Danny is one of my favorite names, regardless of the show. So, no, it wasn't meant to be a reference, but if you want to take it as one I won't stop you.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I really had fun writing it! Y'know, back in April when it was written... Anyways, please leave me a review and tell me what you think! See you all next week!**


	11. Coping

**I actually remembered all by myself this week, aren't you proud YellowAngela(aka, the main reason this story has any kind of consistency with updates)? Anyways, this chapter is a little slower, but it's setting things up for another arc, so I swear it's for a good reason.**

 **Also, should the person who keeps harassing me read this note as well, please see the bottom.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

Rex fidgeted and looked at the time again to see that exactly three minutes and four seconds had passed since the last time he'd checked. He had arrived almost an hour early at the place Kateri had said she would meet him, or where he hoped she would. About ten minutes had passed since he'd shown up.

He also decided that whoever said _patience_ _is a virtue_ had clearly never had to deal with a disappearing act from thier...crush? The term seemed to juvenile to the Latino, but he wasn't sure what else to call her. Friend was honestly pretty weak at this point. Partner seemed too formal and was something he applied to a relationship like his and Six's. Significant other, while a term that was a little intimidating to him with its context, was probably the best one to use as far as accuracy was concerned.

Ugh. Nine in the morning was too early to be torturing himself with an English lesson.

When he'd arrived here, he had to admit that he'd expected another cafe or diner or something. What he got instead, was a run down little bookstore a mile away from the nearest highway that looked like somewhere you'd go to buy a black magic book. He wandered around the inside of it for a few minutes but ultimately decided it was creepy and settled for hovering out front.

The air was cold, but it was still relatively early and the sun was out, so he did his best to just ignore the seeping chill. The place she'd asked him to meet was still in Arizona, and he got the feeling that she would be around where she used to live and he could probably have found her if he _really_ wanted to, but he'd promised to keep his distance. She must have known he would or she wouldn't have gone some where so obvious, if the archer really didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be.

Now that his waiting was almost over, time couldn't have crawled any slower.

Glancing down, he nudged his sleeve out of the way to look at the silver bracelet secured around his wrist, some of the little strands of filigree catching the light and shining brightly. By this point, he knew the patterns rather well, from spending so much time studying the weaving(and maybe from waking up a few times with them imprinted in the side of his face where he'd slept on his arm). A lot of it was actually more simple in execution that he'd thought upon first looking at it, but the way the wire overlayed and crossed over itself made it seem more detailed.

He wondered how long it took her to make it, thinking that she was still having a few troubles with properly gripping things then. Nothing too significant, but for how much time she had to have put into it, it must have been frustrating.

Raising his head and letting his sleeve fall back into place, he heard the hum of an engine in the distance, probably a few streets over. Normally, he wouldn't have paid it any mind, but up until then it had been eerily quiet and he hadn't heard any other cars. Listening carefully, he also noted it was louder than most car engines.

Then, to his right, a silver motorcycle with a thin layer of dust and dirt covering it came around the corner, the bright light mounted on its front dimming so he wouldn't be blinded. Part of him almost thought it was too good to be true since it was only nine twenty and he was supposed to meet her at ten, but the bike slowed to a stop at the curb in front of the bookstore before shutting off.

The driver swung off the bike, pulling off the helmet. Long black hair tumbled from it, falling down the girl's back in a ponytail, bangs dancing in the breeze in front of those familiar soft green eyes.

Rex stepped forward and before Kateri even had a chance to speak, he wrapped her into a tight hug. She stiffened for a moment at the sudden movement, but relaxed a moment later, sliding her arms around the Latino as well and burying her face into his chest.

"Hey Rex." she said after a moment, her voice slightly muffled. She was somewhat reluctant to admit it, but she'd missed the EVO teen's warm embrace.

"Please tell me you're staying." His voice was soft and even, but that didn't keep every word from stinging.

"Yeah. I'm not going anywhere." She replied, and then stepped back. He didn't really want to let go, but he didn't pin the girl down. "I'm sorry for running off like that. I just… I don't think I could've handled everyone coming at me at once, not then."

"You don't have to explain anything, I get it." He said, running his thumb along her jaw. "I'm just glad you're back now."

The ghost of a smile passed over her lips. "I kind of wondered how you'd hold up against the waiting. I know you're really not the 'sit and do a crossword puzzle' type."

"I kinda broke a lot of stuff." He admitted with a sheepish grin. "Mostly old training equipment, so I wouldn't get in too much trouble."

Kateri chewed on her lip and looked at the ground. Rex's thumb came up to brush firmly against her lip.

"Don't do that." He said when the chapped skin had been freed from her teeth. "You keep making them bleed when you bite your lips."

Kateri let out a small laugh. "Mother hen much?"

"Hey, you're still technically in recovery, so I get to worry." He defended. "So, do you wanna head back, or…?"

She didn't. She knew that returning to Providence would make it feel all too real that she really didn't have any true family left, that she was alone. Though she'd managed to get a better hold of her grief, going back to that stark white building would start pushing those feeling into a box, which she didn't really want to do. She'd been trying to learn to let the emotions flow, and to actually let herself look to other people for help, but it was still a slow going process.

She then felt Rex squeeze her hand lightly and she looked up and met his warm brown eyes, the Latino waiting quietly for her response. For a moment she just held his gaze, finding nothing but reassurance in the rich chocolate. Then, the hideously cliche realization hit her, that she wasn't alone. If there was _one person_ that she could count on to be there every time, it was him.

"Yeah, let's go."

(*)

The trip back took much longer than the one there, since they travelled on land upon Kateri's request. The archer said she wanted the extra time to clear her head before she went back, which Rex didn't have a problem with. Providence wasn't exactly the most cozy place in the world, often feeling more like a hospital or something that anything. That, along with everything with her dad, Rex didn't blame her for being reluctant to return.

He'd glance over at the girl every so often through the orange tinted goggles, but the visor on her helmet was too dark for him to see through. Her jacket ruffled in the wind and her backpack rested snugly against her back. The only thing he could really see were her white knuckles from how hard she gripped the handles.

The silence was a little overbearing for the Latino's tastes, but he could stand the few hours of quiet with knowing that the Navajo girl was with him. They weren't too far away now, the road having long since been replaced by dry desert, the big white building looming in the distance.

Then, a few minutes later, she swerved to the side a bit, slowing down.

"Kateri, what's wrong?" He called when she idled the bike, leaning it up on its kickstand and flicking up the visor of her helmet.

She slid off the vehicle as Rex came up behind her, his own hoverbike vanishing from sight. She stooped down and grabbed something off the ground. She then turned to him, something close to amusement in her eyes as she held up the object.

"Is that…?"

"One of my taser arrows." She nodded. "This where we actually met face to face for the first time. Pretty sure that," she pointed to a rock formation. "is the rock you threw me into when I was knocked out."

"If someone had told me that I'd be back here months later with the same girl, for a different reason with different feelings, I'd have probably laughed and asked what drugs they were on." He replied, taking the arrow from her. It was filthy from being outside for so long, but it seemed to be intact. He then tossed it back onto the ground. "But then again, opinions change when you see people's true colors."

"Yeah, I guess they do." She flipped her visor back down and mounting the bike once more.

They arrived back at Providence within the hour, Kateri leaving her motorcycle in the storage bay where all of Providence's other land vehicles were kept. Rex could tell that she was tense, being back at the base, from the way she walked and how she was a little too alert.

"So, um, Holiday said she wanted to see you when you got back." He said after a few minutes.

Kateri nodded. "I figured she would."

"Hey, Kateri?" Rex grabbed her arm, stopping them both.

"Yeah?"

"No one is expecting anything from you. You don't have to act like nothing is wrong, or put on a brave face. Anyone who knows what happened doesn't need to be told that you're more than capable and that you don't have to answer to anyone. No one's judging you for needing help, there's a _lot_ of agents who go on sabbaticals for things like therapy. It happens to everyone."

She bit her lip and looked down. "I know that, I'm trying. It's just a hard habit to break, since I did it for so long. Guess that's just a side effect of being a kid who had to fill an adult's shoes, you have to act like nothing fazes you to be taken seriously."

The Latino knew _exactly_ what she meant. "Believe me, I know what it's like, and it takes a while to get out of that mindset, but you've gotta start somewhere." He reached up and tugged at her lip again with his thumb. "That probably won't help, though."

She cracked a tiny smile. "Probably not." She shifted her backpack around on her shoulder. "So, whenever Holiday is done with me, you wanna do something? Having headspace was nice, but I kinda missed your stupid face."

"Stupid _hot_ face." He grinned at the eyeroll he received, but noted that she didn't try to deny it. "But yeah. Up for a round of Call of Duty?"

Kateri wasn't exactly the best at video games, it's not like she ever had the time, but Rex wasn't very good either, so they were a fairly even match. "Absolutely."

(*)

Kateri knocked quietly on Holiday's door, the woman doing a short double take when she realized who was there. "Kateri! You're back."

The Native American girl nodded. "In the flesh. Rex said you wanted to talk to me?"

She nodded. "I doubt it's much surprise, but you've missed a week's worth of sessions and exams. Also, I wanted to see how you were doing overall. I know you've been a little overwhelmed lately."

Kateri gave a humorless laugh. "A little understated, I think, but you're not wrong." She plopped down in the chair she normally sat in when talking to Holiday, bringing her legs to her chest and draping her arms over them. "As for how I'm doing...that's a little complicated to answer. It feels surreal, but at the same time...I know he's gone, which didn't hit as hard as what you might think. I mean, yeah, I was really upset at first, but now? Yeah, it hurts, but it doesn't feel like as big a deal as it is."

"Well, you've been estranged for over six years, it's not unreasonable to believe you built up some walls in regards to him, to both your parents." Holiday stated.

"But what still makes me so _furious_ that, even after all I went through and what I put everyone else through to get him back, I still failed in the end. Yeah, it sounds selfish, but it makes me so angry to know that my goal was the only one that failed. I got sixteen people out, people who are alive and have a shot at a life again, and all I can think of is how I only had to keep _one person_ safe, get _one person_ out, and I couldn't even do that."

"Does it upset you more that you feel like you failed, or that he's gone?"

She faltered. "I...I don't know. I just got him back, and just like that he's gone again. I got a few hours where I could _talk_ to him again, for the first time in years, to find out my mom's been dead most of that time, on top of having to run for our lives. Why couldn't he have just _gone with the others_ …"

It took the girl a minute to realize that the reason she couldn't see was because she'd started crying again. She didn't bother trying to wipe away the warm salt on her cheeks, because more would just come rolling down.

"Kateri, do you think it's your fault that he didn't make it?" Holiday asked.

She glanced up at the doctor, blinking to clear her vision. "In some ways. It's not my fault he got in the path of that thing, but it's my fault for not killing the damn thing in the first place. It's not my fault he wanted to stay behind, but it's my fault for not being firm enough. It's a vicious cycle." Using the hem of her jacket, she wiped away the salt water on her face.

"Truthfully, I can't do much to help you any significant amount." Holiday finally spoke. "This is something that really only time will help with, but you don't need to be so hard on yourself. You went farther and did so much more than anyone could have expected, because most couldn't have done a fraction of those things."

"It doesn't feel worth that much when the one thing you were actually working for is about the only thing that didn't happen." She replied bitterly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I could get that many people out safely, but it's almost like some kind of sick joke that one person got all of them out safely and two people couldn't do the same for one. If I ever meet whoever writes people's life story, I'm gonna whoop thier ass."

"Tell me, if someone told your story, would you be proud of it?" Holiday asked.

Kateri gave her a curious look at her question, taking a moment to think. "You know, for the longest time, I would have answered no right away. I've done a lot of really awful things, that I'm _definitely_ not proud of, but now that I'm past everything, now that I'm past that hurdle I did all those things to get over...honestly, I don't think I'd be that disappointed. Everything I did, no matter how bad, was in an effort to work towards a greater cause. I don't think I'd be _proud_ of it, there's an awful lot of bad things in it, but I don't think I'd be ashamed of it either."

Holiday nodded. "Now, who's to say you can't write the rest of it? No one else controls your life but you."

Kateri grimaced. "That's only been true recently."

"Even so, though you've been through a lot, you're still young and you've got a lot of life left to live." Holiday smiled. "Why don't you start living it by _your_ rules?"

Kateri chewed on her lip(yeah, she'll worry about breaking that habit later), the older woman's words looping through her head over and over. "You know? I think that's the best goddamn advice I've gotten in a long time."

(*)

"Hey hey _hey_ , I'm on your team, what gives?" Rex cried, pushing against Kateri's body with his own.

"That wasn't me!" She replied, shoving back, clicking the buttons on the controller in her hand.

"Nope, that was me, Chief."

"Tell me again, why did we let the monkey play?" Rex grumbled.

"I have no problem with the monkey playing, as long as I'm on his team." Kateri said with a disgruntled scowl.

When the three had begun the game, Kateri and Bobo had been on the same team, and ended up wiping the floor with Rex, but this round, the game had randomly paired Kateri and Rex together. While they held up better playing together that alone, the chimp was still doing better than their combined efforts.

"Sorry, toots, I'm a one chimp army." The EVO replied with a smug grin.

Kateri's hands stilled on the controller in her hands and the turned completely around to face him. Her character was dead in seconds, the screen darkening as she respawned. "I know you didn't just call me 'toots'."

"You know wrong then." Another smirk. " _Toots_."

"Just because you can play a video game better than me doesn't mean I won't hesitate to kick your furry little ass." She deadpanned, turning back to the screen despite the fact the round was almost over. She didn't mind too much, though, she was beginning to get bored with it. The archer had lived an active lifestyle for far too long to just play games for hours.

"Hm, do I smell a challenge?" Bobo asked, sounding unimpressed.

"If you've got enough balls to take it, then sure." She retorted.

"Ooh, monkey's getting roasted." Rex hummed.

The screen flashed as the timer ran out, declaring Bobo the victor of the round. Kateri and Rex both turned and the primate considered the girl carefully for a moment. "...nah, not worth my time."

"That sounds like a cop out." Kateri said.

"Since I can't blow you up at the end, it's not fun." The monkey shrugged, scratching as his side, uncaring over the girl's baiting. "I'm gonna go see if Bernice'll let me snag some grub."

"Doubt it. Last time you cleaned out the next two weeks worth of chicken." Rex said.

Bobo just shrugged, hopping down from the hammock stretched across the corner and meandering out of the room.

"Who's Bernice?" Kateri asked once the monkey had gone.

"Head of the kitchen staff. Bobo's kinda banned from the cafeteria, he just tends to take it as a firm suggestion." Rex replied.

"Ah." Kateri ended up with the comical image of a woman chasing the primate around with a broom. "So, Holiday said I can start shooting again. She said earlier my shoulder's healed up enough that shooting my bow shouldn't damage anything. Still need to do strength training to get it back into good condition, but everything's healed."

"Really? That's great, nice to hear you're finally getting better." He said. "You back on training?"

"I like to think of it as rigorous workout. So far, I'm not really learning anything, I'm just fine tuning what I know." She said.

"You'll say that now but wait until Six _really_ starts getting into it. He's been taking it easy on you."

Kateri was skeptical, but she didn't say anything. There had been virtually no information on Agent Six when she'd started her mission months ago, so she was having to learn about the elusive man for herself. Who knew what surprises she would be met with. "But yeah, I'm starting up again Monday." She fiddled with a few strands of her hair, weaving them loosely together. "She also said that, if Six agreed too, that I could start going on missions with you guys at some point. Not for a while, but she brought it up as a possibility."

Rex's eyebrows shot up. "Really? I mean...would you want to? Because it's not that different from what you did before, it's just for a better reason and no killing. But you'd be going through the same motions."

"She said something similar and honestly, I'm not sure. I never liked doing any of that before, and maybe it would be different if the goal was to help people instead of hurt them, but I don't know what kind of memories that could bring up." She replied. "Even Holiday said it would have to be a long time before she'd even consider it, because she thinks it could cause flashbacks or anxiety attacks and that's not safe in the middle of a fight. For the time being, though, I'm still living the house mouse life."

Rex was far happier about her answer than he'd tell her, because he was worried about the same thing. They were finally getting her emotional barriers down in order to help her, but it was also leaving those emotions jumbled and volatile. With the trauma still so fresh in the girl's mind, he couldn't see any good from her going on missions.

Then there was also the fact that he'd probably be more focused on the archer than his job, which probably would be bad too.

"Then again, there's still a part of me that _wants_ to go." ...well never mind that whole being glad thing. "It just frustrates me to no end that I'm not doing anything here, that I don't have a purpose. Even doing all that merc shit, I had an objective, something I was useful for. Now I just tend to feel like a hinderance." She flicked the braid apart and stood up with a soft huff. "I don't want to dwell on this right now. Wanna see how rusty I've gotten with sparring, Salazar? Bet I can still kick your ass."

"Oh, you are _so_ on."

 **Yay for character building. It took me a while myself to figure out exactly what would be going through Kateri's head when her father died as well, but by the time I got to this chapter, I think her conversation with Holiday covers it pretty well.**

 **And to the person who keeps contacting me, you know who you are, I want you to stop. Maybe this is a cop out, writing it in a public place like this. Maybe it makes me a coward, since I won't tell it to you in a more private manner. Perhaps some part of me is thinking it will soften the blow even thought, realistically, it won't. What you are doing has a name. Harassment. I started out as your beta, and thought I haven't been that in a long time, I am not your friend. I don't know you beyond a screen, and you've displayed very clingy behavior that, frankly, makes me uncomfortable(particularly your statement that we** ** _should_** **meet, which at that point I no longer replied because I was very uncomfortable by the statement), to the point I had to put a set of** ** _rules_** **on my profile in regards to accepting beta work. I responded to your more casual messages to be courteous, not because I was seeking friendship, and an occasional message every few weeks was fine, but to contact me daily and ask what I'm doing** ** _right now_** **is overstepping. I admit that I didn't handle it appropriately either, because I obviously let it happen for far too long, and have deliberately avoided a confrontation because up until this point it would look as though I was leading you on. This was not and is not my intention, but it seems that's what happened regardless.**

 **I am sorry for not saying something sooner, be it because I wanted to preserve your feelings or because I just simply didn't want to deal with it. You've been blocked from a majority of the means of contacting me and, unless it is EXPLICITLY for beta purposes, I would appreciate it if you would stop contacting me.**

 **I also apologize to my regular readers for the above message. Yes, I am aware this is not the appropriate place for it, and even though I can't message them on most platforms due to blocking, there still** ** _could_** **have been a better way to handle it, but it wouldn't have been handled at all. It's not my intention to involve anyone else and this won't happen again as I normally** ** _do_** **handle confrontation privately, but this is a rare scenario. Once this issue is fully resolved, I intend to remove the above paragraph from the chapter for anyone reading it in the future.**

 **Thank you all so much for reading(and putting up with my crap, frankly, most authors don't put that stuff in their chapters D: )**

 **Please leave me a review and tell me what you thought of it, and I'll see you all next week!**


	12. Mission Report

**Hullo, welcome back!**

 **Don't have much to say up here, so I hope everyone enjoys the chapter!**

Kateri walked out of the locker room, tying off the end of her braid as she walked. She'd taken a few minutes to change into workout clothes, since she had a tendency to stay long enough to get sweaty and because they had better support than normal clothes. She still kept on the ankle brace, though, because even though it had healed and no longer hurt, the reason it had gotten fractured again in the first place was because she'd kicked too hard. Better safe than sorry.

Rex turned to her when she entered the training gym, pushing off the wall he'd been leaning against. He'd just removed his jacket and gloves, leaving his arms bare as he moved to the center of the floor. "Promise I'll go easy on you for first time, since I know you're a little out of pract-ah!"

He looked up as Kateri stepped closer and leaned over him a bit, her head and shoulders blocking out a few of the lights that he was facing as he lay on his back. "Sorry, what was that?"

"I kinda figured you'd say go or something, but playing dirty is _fine_." With his last word, he swung his body around, now sweeping _her_ legs out from beneath her like she'd done to him. She saw him moving, and tried to dodge, but was a split second too slow, the Latino catching her just off balance enough to knock her down as well. He sprung forward from the floor, straddling her waist and pinning her arms to the floor. "Promise my guard isn't nearly as low now as it was at that motel with your friends."

He hadn't really thought they would be as skilled of fighters as any of them were, especially not Salem, so he hadn't been on too high alert. He had quickly learned not to underestimate them, and figured if he had to do it again, things might go a little differently.

"Is this you saying you were holding back in an attempt to make it look like you didn't get beaten by a girl that weighs as much as a fourth grader?" She asked from beneath him with an amused smirk. "Come on, it's not that bad, she'd kicked my ass plenty of times too." She leaned closer to him, whispering into his ear. Her breath tickled the Latino's neck, and he had to fight back a shudder. "Or maybe, you're just not as good as you think you are."

Then, she jerked up her legs, shoving him back with her knees in his moment of distraction. Placing her hands on the ground beside the ground, she flipped her legs up and pushed off the ground with a smooth ripple of her body, coming up standing.

"That's not fair." Rex said, bringing up his hands after stumbling back a few steps.

"What? Are you saying I can't use your crush against you?" She snickered.

"No, that's just rude." He said, running at her and aiming an open palm strike at her shoulder. She twisted and sent an elbow at his stomach. He just barely managed to miss it with a small half step back, but the shift in his weight made his balance uneven and he had to take a step back to steady himself. Kateri had noticed this too and pushed back her entire body against his, causing him to stumble even further.

One of her fists hit his arm, but another slammed into his side before he could block it. He reached up and managed to grab her fist as she threw another punch, sliding his hand to grab her wrist and hold her arm out to the side as his knee hit her chest. The archer wheezed, losing momentum for a second. He used his grip on her arm to sling the girl around, watching as she stumbled for a couple steps before straightening.

"Just throw me around like a rag doll." She muttered, kicking up at his head, but he ducked below it, blocking her hand as she swung at him again.

"Sorry, you're lighter than most of the people I fight." He said, not looking or sounding very sorry at all.

She feinted at one side and ducked around opposite side, coming up behind him. He tried to turn, but Kateri was faster, jumping onto the Latino's back and wrapping her legs around his waist, pinning his arms to his sides in the process and holding back his head with her arm, though not choking him. "I swear if you drop me you're going to wake up with one side of your head shaved." She threatened as she felt he was about to slam them both into the floor.

"Again, not fair!" He complained, ducking them both into a roll. Her legs loosened a bit as she braced for the impact and he managed to wriggle one arm free. Latching onto the arm under his jaw, he threw his torso forward, ducking down enough to let the momentum bring the girl flying forward over his head. His hold on her kept the Navajo from smacking her back into the floor, and he grabbed her other arm with his free hand, holding them crossed in front of her chest. He then forced her down to her knees so she couldn't kick him.

She squirmed for a moment before then stilling with a huff.

"See, nothing wrong with being a little rus- _ow_!" He jerked back, cupping his face. " _Seriously_ , you guys need to quit with the headbutting!"

Kateri spread her arms out. "Obviously it worked, why would I do that?"

There were a few specks of blood on the Latino's hand. "Because my nose is gonna end up broken at this rate."

"Oops, it is bleeding?" She took a step closer as she peered at his hand. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to hit you _that_ hard."

"Mhm, I'm sure." He said, curling his hand and swinging. This time, he actually managed to land a hit on her jaw. She jumped back in surprise, one hand flying to her face.

"Wow, the face? Low." She said, rolling forward again pushing off the ground with her hands, one foot landing under his jaw and forcing him back a few steps. As she came up, sent a sharp jab into his abdomen, earning a sharp grunt. She twisted her body into another high kick, but he blocked this one.

"What is it with you and kicking?" He said, sidestepping another swing and grabbing her arm as it passed by. He pulled it up over his shoulder, flinging her over his body once more, but this time she managed to curl her body enough to land on her feet. She hopped back a couple steps to regain her balance.

"I have more strength in my legs than my arms, so it makes sense I'd use it to my advantage." She replied simply, making a point to do a sort of cartwheel handspring forward, hooking her legs around his neck and knocking the Rex onto his back, sitting triumphantly on the Latino's chest with her hand on his upper arms.

"Maybe you're not that rusty after all." He admitted, moving to lightly run his fingertips along the sides of Kateri's thighs, at least what he could reach with half his arms being pinned. She raised an eyebrow at his actions, leaning forward until her hair tickled his cheeks with a smug little smirk. Rex's own lips twitched up in a little smile as he narrowed the space a bit more. "I guess I did underestimate you a little."

"I guess you did, Salaza-ah!" Her eyes widened as he pulled his arms free, gripping onto Kateri's waist and flipping them over so that _he_ was now the one pinning _her._

"But then again, I think you might have underestimated me, too." He said.

She spread her hands out. "Alright, fine, we'll call it a tie."

"Uh uh, you don't get to call a tie when you're the one who can't move." He retorted.

"Then fine, you win. Haven't just done friendly sparring in like three months and I've been nursing injuries for weeks, so excuse me if my endurance isn't quite up to par." She shot back in mild annoyance. "So, you want to get off me now?"

"Wha-oh, right." He got off the girl and held his hand out, pulling her to her feet.

"Are there any targets?" She asked. "I doubt any of them are specifically for archery since it's something of a dying art, but there's bound to be something around here that'll work."

"Funny you ask, Doc actually set something up for you." Rex said. "C'mere, I'll show you."

He led her out of the practice gym and into another similar area, though this one was smaller than the last. The archer could smell varnish, like the space had recently been renovated. There were a few hooks against the wall there the bow she'd had on her when Rex carried her out of the lab hung, along with the one he'd taken after their first encounter as well as the spare that had been in her backpack during the last mission. Beside them was a canister that held all the arrows she'd had, both from the mission and from the first time she'd been there.

"Since there's not exactly a lot of archers around here, there wasn't really any equipment for it." Rex began. "While you were gone, Doc fixed this place up, since I kinda trashed it a while back. Not sure what all it does, I just know that it's mostly stuff specifically for archery."

Kateri looked impressed. "She did all that just because I shoot a bow instead of a gun?"

Rex shrugged. "It's not as big a deal as it sound, really, she did this all the time when my machines were developing. Fixing training gyms is not a new thing around here."

"Still, that's pretty cool. So do you actually know how any of it works?" She asked, walking over to where the bows hung against the wall, pulling one off. She also grabbed a quiver and slid a handful of arrows into it.

"Um, kinda? I'm gonna run off of the assumption that it's like the others, so there's probably a panel around here somewhere that...aha." He poked at a white screen on the wall with a few buttons on it. "Let's see what this does."

He pressed something and then a few sections of the wall moved away and something that looked like a small cannon slid out. Then, a bean bag shot out of one of them.

Grinning, Kateri drew back an arrow, hitting the beanbag and pinning it too the wall. "You have no idea how satisfying this is."

"Wait, I think there's a control for which ones shoot and how fast." He said, messing with a few more of the settings. Two more began to fire, and every few seconds another little pouch was sent into the air.

Within minutes, the Navajo had lost focus of what the Latino was doing, slipping into the familiar lull of the flax against her cheek, the snap of the string, the thud of each arrow hitting its mark. It was a little silly, since the bean bags were hardly difficult to hit with how slowly they moved, but it was soothing. Any tension in her body slowly drained away as she settled into a smooth rhythm.

Rex remained quiet, just watching the girl. He doubted she was paying enough attention to anything else that she'd hear him anyways. He'd seen her shoot in several fights before, sure, but he hadn't ever really seen her just shoot for the sake of it before. It was different, despite how similar it was. Her stance was still strong and steady, but she was visibly more relaxed, almost carefree. Her expression was not one of razor focus, but a passive sort of attentiveness, only paying attention to her actions enough to let the arrow go where she wanted it to.

She moved with a fluidity that only came from years of practice, drawing each arrow and firing it with smooth, fast motions. He watched the muscles in her hands, arms and shoulders ripple with tension as she pulled back the string, then go lax as it was released. Each came with a soft thump a moment later as the bean bag she shot at hit the wall.

Then, when she reached back for an arrow that wasn't there, the spell was broken. She faltered when her hands closed over empty air, and she seemed almost startled as she glanced over her shoulder. She turned back to the wall where nineteen arrows were stuck into it, little bean bags wrapping around the tip of each of them.

"What else does it do?" She asked, turning to the EVO teen.

"Not really sure, that's just the first thing that came up." He said. "Doc can probably tell you, though."

"I'll ask her about it." She rubbed at her fingers on her right hand. "I guess I need to get another shooting glove, the string is going to tear up my fingers if I don't."

"Yeah don't do that." The Latino replied. "Hey, there's something I've been meaning to ask-" He was cut off by the rapid thrumming of some dubstep song, the ringtone of his phone. Swiping the green icon, he raised the device to his ear. "Six? Yeah, we were just-uh, okay, what-...hello?"

"What was that all about?" Kateri asked at he slid the phone back into his pocket.

"Got a couple EVOs loose in some little fishing town in South America. One on land and one in the water." He replied, walking towards the door. Kateri Hung the bow and quiver back up, leaving the arrows. It's not like she could reach them anyways. She followed the EVO teen out, more out of curiosity than anything.

A few minutes later, they arrived in Holiday's lab, where the woman and Six were already waiting. Holiday was running footage through a couple of monitors, but the images were grainy and spotty, probably from old traffic cameras.

"So it's a walker and a swimmer?" Rex began, eyeing the video feed.

Six nodded. "The aquatic one has been either eating or chasing off all the fish, which has all but crashed the local economy. The one on land had been living off livestock but it's run most of it off and has taken to tearing down buildings."

"Oh, how fun." Rex hummed.

"The water one if going to be the real challenge." Holiday began, switching both monitors to show footage of it. "From what I can tell, it's body is extremely streamlined and toned, so it's going to be very difficult to catch. Additionally, since it's underwater, it will probably be very slippery, so you won't be able to hold onto it for long."

"Psh, I got this." Rex said, waving his hand.

"If I do recall, the last time you said that, you were about three seconds from having your head bitten off if the EVO hadn't been electrocuted." Six stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh come on, my life is one big close call, and I've been fine so far." Rex argued. "I'd have been fine then, too! Probably!"

"Yes, I'm sure." Six deadpanned. "Taking off in five."

"Um." Kateri spoke up. "Take this with a grain of salt, but can I come?"

Her only answer were two shocked stares and one mildly unimpressed one.

"Kateri, when I said 'a while' I did mean more than a day." Holiday began.

"Wait, hear me out." The archer said quickly, holding up her hands. "I don't mean actually fighting or anything, just tag along. If I am going to be going in the future, it wouldn't hurt me to see firsthand what it's like to know what to expect, and it would be a good way for me to learn how things work around here. I'd never set foot outside."

Rex glanced at Holiday and Six, opting not to say anything. He wasn't altogether opposed to the idea, though it _did_ seem a little soon and he'd _prefer_ she stayed there, but it wasn't his call.

"Considering that you are currently grieving, whether you acknowledge it or not, I will personally say no, because you're using it as a method of distraction." Six said. "However, the decision would ultimately be Holiday's, because it's her opinion that would sway White Knight's decision as your supervising mental health physician."

The archer's gaze turned to the doctor.

She was quiet for a moment. "This time, I'll allow it as a trial run. You stay with me at all times. After that, we'll see what happens."

Kateri nodded. "Fair enough."

"Then the same thing applies to you, wheels up in five." Six said. "You're either on time, or left here."

(*)

Rex glanced over at where Kateri sat, the archer strapped in beside him. She'd changed back into her jeans and T-shirt, the sleeves of her jacket pushed up. They'd bounced a bit of conversation back and forth, but any topic would die off quickly, the girl seeming...distracted.

Rex reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it lightly. "Hey, you okay?"

She glanced over at him, her eyes sliding down to her lap a moment later. "Not exactly, but that's not really anything new. If I'm being honest, Six was right, I came to distract myself. But not...not really from my father. I'm past the shock from that, but the rest is going to be there for a while and I know that."

"Then what are you trying to get away from?"

She chewed her lip for a few moments before Rex tugged it free from her teeth. "I guess I never really thought about it, but Providence. This is going to sound codependant as hell, but I don't like it when you're not there. You're about the only thing that feels normal anymore, so when you leave, I feel like I'm being watched under a microscope. He hasn't said much, but I know White is keeping pretty close tabs on me, which is a little too familiar in all the wrong ways, and I know there's a lot of people who don't trust me there."

"Is that why you left before, too?" He asked.

"Partly. Even though you say that there's a lot of people from the field who have their moments, I couldn't let people see me that weak. Why give them more ammunition? It's not just White, everyone watches me like I'm about to take off my jacket and have a bomb strapped to my chest. The scrutiny really kinda gets to me when you leave, but if you're there, I can ignore it." She let out a soft sigh. "Wow, I sound whiny."

Rex shrugged. "Not really, people did the same thing to me for a long time." He was quiet for a moment. "What if you weren't there?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Like, left Providence?"

He nodded. "Sounds like being there isn't really doing anything but making you uncomfortable, which isn't helping anything. I can talk to Doc about it."

"No, don't worry about it Rex, seriously. It's not worth that much trouble-"

"Why not?" He cut in. "Why isn't it worth the trouble? Give me one good reason why you aren't worth the trouble of helping."

Kateri seemed taken aback by his words. "I-I don't...because people have jobs and lives and bigger things to worry about than a whiny little girl? Because there's people who need more help than I do for bigger problems?"

"Not from where I sit. Whether you like it or not, you're my priority." He gave a smile. "I'll see what I can do."

"Rex, don't, seriously I'm fine-"

The hatch in the floor in front of them began to move aside, revealing nothing but open air for a quarter mile.

"Sorry, gotta go." He grinned. "Don't sweat it, I'll figure something out."

Kateri just sighed as he stepped through the hatch.

(*)

"Like this?"

"Close, don't grip the handle so hard, it's not going to jump at you." Holiday instructed. The archer loosened her grip a bit. "Good. You want to be careful, it's not like a car, the steering it a lot more sensitive."

Kateri was strapped into the copilot's seat as Holiday went over the basics of manual flight while the ship idled. Obviously, the controls were locked, but manually operating the jump jets instead of relying on programmed coordinates were a fairly basic skill and the girl would benefit from learning herself. "This isn't too different from a helicopter."

Holiday raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know why you were piloting a helicopter?"

She shrugged. "Well, when jumping out a window when people are shooting at you, generally it's better for a helicopter to be there since it's probably level with the fifth story of a building. It becomes a problem when the pilot gets shot. I'd been in them before, so I had a general idea, but it was a lot of guessing and hoping I didn't crash."

Holiday looked only slightly startled. "You learned how to fly a helicopter because your pilot got _shot_?"

"Not exactly learned. It was mostly hitting buttons hoping one wasn't going to kill the engine. I usually rode in the copilots seat, so I wasn't _completely_ lost, but there were a lot of sharp turns and almost running into stuff." She admitted. "If you want some good news from this story, the pilot lived. He was hit twice, once in the arm and once in the side. May have spent a few minutes choking on blood, but he made it in pretty decent shape given the circumstances."

"Well that's...fortunate. I hope he didn't continue being a helicopter pilot for that." Holiday replied.

"He did, but not for much longer. Far as I know now, he's retired and living in Canada somewhere." She said.

The silence hung in the air for a moment, neither sure what to say. Holiday had come to learn that the archer had all kinds of odd little stories such as this from her previous occupation. More often than not they tended to be more amusing than anything, such as when one of the girl's chloroform arrows broke on a simple recon mission for newer agents and she ended up knocking out most of her team including herself. Fortunately, no one was caught, but she ended up getting half her pay divided among the others because of it.

" _Yo Doc, pretty sure I just made it mad!"_ Rex's voice echoed over the cabin. " _Wait, those spikes weren't there before!"_

"Spikes?" Kateri leaned forward and peered out the window, where Rex was flying over the bay of the black and cobalt hoverboard, Six having taken the one on land to minimize damage. Now there were a high crest of spines arching from the water EVO's with a translucent webbing stretched between them, before dipping back below the water. "Are catfish local to this area?"

"Among others, yes." Holiday watched the EVO a moment as well, musing over what the girl was implying. "I think you may be right."

"I only suggested it in the first place because the spines have barbs. My dad got finned once when I was little and we went fishing."

Holiday spoke into the microphone connected to the comms. "Rex, it's looking like your EVO was a catfish, so be careful with the spines."

"Yeah, they're probably poisonous." Kateri murmured.

"Try to find the gills, they're likely going to be the softest spot. If you can get a solid hit, you might be able to stun it." she continued, running mentally through what would be a weak spot on an actual catfish's body.

" _Copy that._ "

They watched as the teen's hoverboard folded away, his small figure dropping into the water. There was a rough _whoom_ as the comm, waterproof thanks to Holiday's foresight, as he hit the water, vanishing with a small splash. There was a muted rush where the water moved, but otherwise it was quiet again.

"How do you do this?" Kateri asked suddenly.

"Do what, exactly?"

"Just stay up here. You probably could tell someone more about these EVOs within five minutes than the people living here for weeks and exploit weaknesses no one ever could have thought of. So why stay up here?" The archer clarified.

"Sometimes I do. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself, but I'm not shy to admit that I can't do what they can, or even you. My strengths are in the analytics, the problem solving aspect. From up here, I can see everything, and help everyone, instead of only one, and slow them down at that. It's not always easy, because I see it coming before they do, but this is where I do the most good." Holiday turned to face her more fully. "Think of it like this. Say you were given the job of watching a security feed to make sure that no one was caught. _Could_ you do it?"

"Well yeah, I guess."

"Okay, but if there was someone who could do it better, someone who wasn't much of a fighter and even had a talent for hacking and computers, wouldn't it be more ideal if they were there instead and you doing the fighting? Even further, would you want them to leave that post where they can watch everyone to help only you, and then you'd still have to keep an eye on them, because in combat, they are a weak link."

Understanding colored the girl's features. "I see what you mean. I guess it's just different to me, because _I_ would step in."

"You have a confrontive personality and the combat skills to back it up, which is why you're the one who's in the field and not the one behind the controls. It suits you better and is better use of your skills."

" _Can we keep him?_ "

Once again, they both leaned forward to see Rex's head bobbing above the surface of the water, one arm raised high with a small catfish not more than twelve inches long in his hand.

"No, Rex." Holiday said, a hint of exasperation in her tone. "Throw it back and get back up here."

" _What about Six?_ "

"He's been waiting on you for about fifteen minutes now." Kateri replied with a grin.

" _Aw, what, are you guys ganging up on me now?"_

Holiday let lose a small laugh. "You make it too easy. Come on, let's get going."

" _Awww!_ "

 **I'm sorry(no I'm not), but Rex is so adorable. I feel like, on the inside, he's actually a puppy and it's cute, sue me.**

 **Yay, progress! I swear it won't be boring forever, my intention with this actually being for her to see firsthand what it's like to work with Providence versus Jessup and see that, though she's going through a lot of the same motions, it's** ** _not_** **the same.**

 **Please leave me a review and tell me what you think! Also, if you look on my art blog(link on profile), I drew Rex and Kateri sparring a while back!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	13. Scrutiny

**Hey guys.**

 **When I wrote in this bit, it took a very different direction than even I had expected, so I hope you guys like it.**

A soft knock sounded at Holiday's office door. "Come in."

The door swung open to reveal Rex, the Latino's hair still damp from where he'd taken a shower after swimming in the filthiest lake for miles. "Hey Doc. I wanted to talk to you about Kateri."

"I figured you'd be here sooner or later." She said, setting down the pen she'd been writing with. "I'm guessing this is going to have something to about her staying with Providence."

"Kinda, yeah."

She nodded. "I've known for a while that she's unhappy here, that she feels very out of place, but she won't bring it up."

"She just feels like a burden all the time!" He said, exasperated. "No one's expecting anything from her, but she always walks with her tail between her legs."

"But not with you." Holiday pointed out. It didn't take a scientist to see how much more at ease the girl was around him.

"Okay, not with me." He relented. "I just don't get why she thinks she's just a problem for everyone."

"She's led a very proactive life, Rex. She was always doing _something_ , and generally handled it herself at that. She's not used to having people in her life to care for her, and instead of seeing it as being someone's priority, she sees it as her being someone's responsibility. How would you feel if someone stopped letting you do everything that's become routine for years, and instead told you to sit back and just catch your breath while everyone else did the work?" Holiday asked.

Rex's gaze tipped to the side. "I guess I never thought about it like that. I'd probably be losing my head because people were out doing things _I_ should be doing."

She nodded. "Precisely, and I'm sure she's particularly sensitive to you. Is there something you had in mind?"

"Yes...sort of...no." he rubbed the back of his head. "I think just being here is part of the problem, because she was right about one thing, people _do_ watch her, especially White. I just...have no idea what to do from there."

Holiday pursed her lips. "What about your grandmother's?"

Rex raised an eyebrow. "Abuela's? I guess that wouldn't be that bad, she's had experience dealing with weird stuff before and it's not really that far away. I can ask Caesar about it, that's actually a pretty good idea. How much crap is White gonna give us for it?"

"Who knows." Holiday shrugged. "When Kateri left before, what he was most upset about was that no one knew when or where she went. I think he's just trying to be careful with her."

"Yeah, I've heard that before." The EVO teen frowned.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." The brunette slid some papers into a manilla folder before sliding it into a stack. "Would you be going with her if she went?"

"Probably. New environment with new people who are probably too friendly for her." He said. "I can stay on call, though, for missions."

She nodded. "Then let's see what we can do."

(*)

" _Alright, I'm going to speed up the fire, I want to see how long you can keep up."_

Kateri nodded as Holiday's voice faded over the speakers. She was standing on the center of the training gym Rex had shown her, a quiver strapped to her back with as many arrows as would fit and her bow in hand, many more arrows in an upright tube next to the girl. Holiday was the one behind the controls this time, watching from behind thick glass to get a full range report of her abilities.

Little bean bags began to fly at faster intervals, prompting her to fire faster and faster. After a minute, she realized the speed was just gradually increasing to see at what point she was no longer able to hit all of them.

After a moment, she began drawing two arrows at a time and firing them both. The relaxing feel of the exercise began to fade off a bit as she began narrowing her focus on how fast each little bag was moving to see where they overlapped, only then releasing the arrows to hit two bags at once. She began to notice a pattern of how they fired, timing each shot with the sequence.

Holiday also seemed to realize that the archer had found a pattern and began to randomize the shots, which seemed to throw the girl off a bit as one bean bag _thwacked_ on the opposite wall. Another moment later and Kateri started shooting three arrows at a time.

Holiday watched the girl carefully. At the beginning of the exercise, her expression had been calm and passive, hitting her targets in easy, methodical motions. It was almost fascinating to watch, how it made her so calm, but as the number of projectiles, and arrows shot, increased, so did her focus. She grew more and more rigid as her concentration was entirely on making sure each arrow hit its target. So far, she'd only missed one other bean bag, though a few had only just barely been hit, but she didn't seem to be particularly focused on her surroundings.

Ultimately, while her ability to shoot multiple arrows at once was an impressive and useful skill, it wouldn't be practical in a true fight until she had refined it more and she didn't have to put so much effort into aiming alone. It left her to unguarded to other attacks and wouldn't be ideal in an intense situation if she had to aim more than two at once, and even that might be pushing if she kept doing it over and over.

She seemed to still be hitting almost all of the bean bags with three cannons firing two every second, so Holiday upped the speed again. Kateri's brows furrowed as she pushed to move even faster. Another pouch fell to the floor. She attempted to shoot four arrows at once, but two of them missed entirely, so she resumed with three.

Another two minutes later of the speed still getting faster and she was missing about a third of every bean bag shot. Holiday stopped the bean bag cannons once her arrows ran out.

" _Alright, good. I'd say shooting multiples would take more practice to make it a reasonable skill in the field, but you have good precision with your single shots with little to no effort."_ The brunette woman spoke over the intercom. " _Can you shoot a recurve style bow as well, or do you only use a compound?"_

Kateri nodded, speaking out into the room knowing Holiday could hear her. "Yes, I actually prefer them. They aren't as heavy and I like the feel of them, but I don't typically use them because I can get more distance with a compound, and they tend to collapse down which is convenient."

" _How much of a difference is there as far as distance goes?"_

The Native American girl paused a moment, running the numbers in her head. "Um, a forty five to fifty pound pull on a recurve can give about one twenty to one fifty yards depending on the arrow and the wind, but I've gotten over two hundred from a compound before on a good day, which can make a big difference. Even so, because the ones I use tend to fold, they're much easier to hide."

" _Practical. I think we're done for the day, I've gotten a pretty good idea on the extent of your skill set as far as aim alone goes. We can test how well you do with moving targets and how it fares while you're moving another time before you start working on the areas you're a bit lacking in and see if we can strengthen those abilities. Good job._ "

There was a slight hiss of static as the microphone cut off. Kateri looked up at the one of the walls where her arrows had landed. All of the walls had some kind of polymer based coating with metal beneath so her arrows would stick, but not go through, said walls. They looked like cactus or porcupine quills, with how many arrows stuck out of the surface, most holding little pouches of beads to it. Her eyes then flicked to the ground as she counted how many in total she had missed. There were twenty two around the edges of the room where they had fallen, most of them having fallen within the last couple minutes of her shooting.

Not sure what she could do at this point, since of course the arrows she'd shot were far too high to retrieve herself, she just hung the bow back on the wall with the other two. The paused for a moment and pulled down one of the others, the one Rex had taken after thier first encounter. The others had been from the raid of the hunting store, one of them rarely having been used outside of the gym, but the one in her hand had been the bow she'd used for a good few years before.

She ran her fingers over the familiar grip, over the scuffs in the aluminum alloy and the scratched on graffiti from moments of boredom. She hadn't used it since returning, and she wasn't quite sure why that was. Sure, she could make up some story that, it had been her bow for years and she was more than familiar with it and needed to step outside of her comfort zone. Or how how she was trying to familiarize herself with others, so she wouldn't be so reliant on just the one.

But the truth was, there was a part of her that was actually concerned it would mess with her concentration, because it had just as many memories attached to it as any scar or photo. Some of the etched on graffiti had been done by Salem, and even one by Ema. There was a little shruikan keychain Abe had attached to the inside curve of it, mostly hidden from view unless you held it, that was meant to be a good luck charm. There were nicks and marks taken from both limbs of it from where she'd used it to block knives and other handheld weapons from hitting her. There was still the slightest orange tinge to the flax of the string from the time she'd been caught off guard and didn't have her shooting glove on, and after half an hour of nonstop shooting, the string had eventually torn the skin off her fingers.

There were just as many memories that didn't have any physical marks at all. She'd tried to teach all her friends how to shoot at at some point or another, Ema surprisingly taking to it the easiest(she had explained it was just math, in considerably more words). Salem had the best aim right off the bat, but it hadn't taken the genius long to show her up. The pyro had excellent aim with her shotgun and didn't have the patience to try to learn to shoot the bow any better. Abe had promptly snapped the bowstring against his arm, leaving an angry red mark on his skin. He seemed rather indifferent to the weapon, preferring something he could swing.

Shaking her head a bit, she placed it back on the curved hooks. This was the very reason why she hadn't used it. It held too many memories for her to be able to hold without getting lost in them, and she had the feeling that would be the case for a while.

She moved towards the doors so she could shower and change back into regular clothes, but Holiday met her first.

"Kateri, a word?" She gestured off to the side, the archer following her. "Does being at Providence bother you?"

The archer mentally facepalmed. "Rex said something, didn't he? Listen, I'm fine, no one needs to go through any trouble to-"

"That's not what I asked." She interrupted. "For any kind of trauma, being in an environment you're not completely comfortable and feel completely safe in will only hinder your recovery. You can't expect to get better if you feel like you have to constantly look over your shoulder. So, does being at Providence make you feel scrutinized?"

"...yeah." She admitted. "If he told you that, then he probably told you that it doesn't happen around him."

Holiday nodded. "Which is something that doesn't surprise me, most PTSD victims associate safety with one particular person, place or object."

Kateri scowled at the term 'victim'. "Yeah, well it's not something everyone needs to make a big deal about, it'll manage fine."

"Like you managed the past seven years? I don't think so, that's not handling it, that's just bottling it up and not acknowledging it. You can deny it all you want, but to actually get past this, you're going to have to face it first." The brunette said. "And if being here is keeping you from doing that, then you should go someplace that does, for your own sake."

"Okay, so where would I go? Would anyone else go too? How would somewhere else be any different?"

Holiday smiled. "Somewhere that feels less like a boot camp and more like a community. Rex already volunteered to go with you."

"Of course he did." The Navajo murmured, the corners of her lips twitching.

"He'd still be called off for missions, but I think you'd be happier there than here. But the choice is still ultimately yours." She said.

Kateri bit her lip and ran Holiday's words through her mind. She was just beginning to get used to Providence, in all it's sterile, stark white glory, but even after two months, she still felt like a stranger in someone else's territory. She still went for meals at odd times to avoid being there with too many people, though, she'd encountered a few friendly agents before, like Captain Calan. The blond man had a scar running over one eye, but was very kind to her and spoke with a subtle Southern accent, getting them caught up in a conversation about how it was his daughter's birthday the previous day, but he'd missed her birthday party because he was on duty. The archer had no idea that the agents could be married or parents, but Calan was both. She'd walked away from that conversation with a more optimistic perspective towards the foot soldiers.

Still, was one nice person worth staying here for?

"Alright, I'll go." She finally relented. "If you really think that's what's best, I'll go. You know what you're talking about more than I do."

Holiday smiled. "I promise you won't regret it."

Kateri turned to go, but looked back at the shorter woman. "Wait, last question. Where am I going?"

Another smile. "Some extended family of Rex's."

(*)

"So she's your grandmother?" Kateri asked as she folded up the few clothes she had, slipping them one by one into her backpack. Almost everything she owned could fit in the one bag, so the archer hadn't bothered to pack it up until the day they were leaving. Rex sat on the edge of her bed by her backpack.

"Kinda. She's my adoptive grandmother, I stayed there a lot when I was a kid." He replied. "Abuela basically runs this little village of kids and just people with nowhere to go. She's also a really good cook."

"Wait, back up, she runs a _village_?" Kateri paused in her folding.

"Yeah, pretty much. We're not talking anything like downtown Manhattan, but there's still probably like fifty people there." He shrugged. "Seriously, don't sweat it, you're gonna love it. It's pretty cozy there and everyone is basically just one big family."

At his words, she had to hold back a wry smile at the irony. Her family was all but gone now, and she was about to be surrounded by Rex's, related or not. She knew that the Latino was no stranger to how it felt to be without you parents, but she couldn't put aside the fact it wasn't quite the same. He'd found new family in Holiday and Six, true family in Caesar, and over time learned that he wasn't nearly as alone as he'd once thought, from his friends in Hong Kong to people like Abuela. Even thought, based off Rex's words, she wouldn't be treated as such, she would still be a misfit to some extent.

"What's the Albino Godfather got to say about this?" She asked.

Rex snickered at the name she used. "Doc said that he didn't really look happy about it, but he has no reason to make you say since you aren't technically a part of Providence yet, we're just watching over you."

"'Yet'?" She raised an eyebrow.

Rex raised his hands. "His words, not mine. Pretty sure he thinks you're gonna end up some kind of agent somewhere down the road."

"Well that's mighty presumptuous of him." She muttered, sliding another shirt into the bag.

"Maybe, but at least he didn't just say no." The Latino countered.

"You said her name is Abuela?" Kateri asked. "Does that mean she's here in Mexico too?"

Rex nodded. "She's about a forty five minute trip out in a jump jet."

"What's her real name? Abuela means grandmother, which is a proper title, not a proper name." She glanced over to see Rex giving her a quizzical look. "Sorry, um...my mom was an English major before she met my dad and took biomedical engineering."

"O...kay. Um, I don't know, all I ever remember her being called is Abuela, even Esteban called her that." He replied. Now it was Kateri's turn to look confused. "Esteban is the mayor of the nearest city there, he's an old friend of my brother's."

"Ah." There were a few minutes of silence as the archer slipped a few more things into the front pocket of the backpack, like her mp3 player and headphones. After a moment of consideration, she went ahead and threw the chargers into it as well, if nothing else for appearances since she barely used them.

"Is that really everything?" He asked as she pulled the bag onto her back.

"Yeah, I don't have that much stuff, I never really have. I'm used to always moving around, so…" she shrugged. Rex picked up the bow she'd been using, as well as a large sleeve of arrows that leaned by the door, an empty quiver strapped to the archer's back already. She'd grabbed them from the training gym earlier, still expected to keep up with her exercises.

"Says the one of us who had her own apartment." Rex deadpanned.

"Rex, I'm pretty sure that apartment didn't even have real silverware. At most I slept there for a week or so and then I was back on the move. I literally carried anything worth keeping with me, that apartment was so empty it's like no one lived there." She replied as they stepped out of her room.

"Well I definitely would have upgraded a little."

"Be my guest. If you ever want a place to stay with a camera recording every angle except the shower, I can hook you up." She replied flatly. Rex's jaw went slack. "When I said they watched my apartment, I meant the _whole_ apartment."

"Yeah no kidding." He mumbled.

He pushed open a door and held it aside for the archer before stepping in himself. Holiday, Six and his brother were there waiting. Caesar was joining them for a few days, having returned back to the Providence base recently and thought it might be nice to visit again.

"Got everything?" Holiday asked, giving her backpack a skeptical look.

"Yeah. Don't really have much, so I pack light." She shrugged.

"Then I guess we're off." Caesar said. "Ready to meet Abuela, Ms. Blackfeather?"

Once everyone had found out that she preferred Blackfeather to Begay, they tended to use it in place of her last name. She felt Rex's hand slid onto her shoulder.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

(*)

Rex jumped as he felt a slight tremor go through the ship, similar to airplane turbulence. His brother had be a bit scattered, but he was generally a pretty good pilot.

" _Wait, you didn't tell me I was actually flying this thing!"_

Oh. That made more sense.

Keeping one hand on the wall just in case, Rex stood up and made his way to the cockpit. The archer had asked to sit up there with his brother, because that was the only part of Caesar's ship with any windows(she honestly found the rest of it to be a little dark and creepy feeling). Ducking in his head, he glanced into the cabin to see Kateri with her hands on the copilot's controls, sending sparse glares at the elder Salazar every few seconds.

"Just relax, it's not that different from the jump jet." Caesar instructed. "There's nothing around for miles and I still have override control."

"Okay, well it would have been nice to know that I actually had control _before_ you started teaching me how to steer it." The archer mumbled.

"You learn best through experience." He chuckled.

"Better now then when one engine blew up and you have to keep it from crashing." Rex piped up, leaning against the wall.

"Sounds like that's a personal experience." Kateri commented.

"It happens."

"Shift a few degrees to the left." Caesar told her, glancing at the route. There was the slightest jerk, then the ship moved where he'd directed. "See, it's easy."

"Yes, I can now turn few feet in one direction. Pretty sure if I tried to land it I'd kill us." She replied.

"You'll get there." Another slight tremor. "But maybe another time."

Both brothers let out a laugh as she released the controls with one hand long enough to flip them off.

 **That's right, Abuela's. You don't really need to have seen the episode to know what's going on later, bit it may help, as a fair bit of the story from here on out is going to take place there. Frankly, based on what I saw from the show, Providence looks like one big test tube and I think Kateri would be VERY uncomfortable in a place like that. She likes warmth, vibrancy, something that makes her feel more normal and human than she thinks she is.**

 **I hope you guys like the chapter, please drop me a review and tell me what you think!**


	14. Abuela's

**So, I guess I'm back?**

 **I'm not gonna put a whole lot up here, but in short, yes I'm doing a lot better now, a lot of things got sorted out and I'm pretty sure I'm out of the water. I'll have a bit more at the bottom, but for now, I'll let you guys get to the chapter you've been waiting a month for.**

A plume of dust drifted off the ground as the ship touched down, now steered by Caesar again as Kateri had long relinquished the controls. The Navajo scanned the landscape through the window, seeing a city in the distance, probably a good few miles off.

In front of them was a structure that looked like a huge, one story building with a sandy yellow mortar wall surrounding it, save for the farthest section which almost reminded the girl of a Spanish church or something of the sort. Before they landed, the archer could also see that a large area in the middle was open, a handful of people moving around within it.

"Think she'll slam the door in our face this time?" Rex asked jokingly. Kateri shot him a curious look. "First time we came she kinda just closed the door on us."

"Why would she do that?"

"Long story, but you'll probably get filled in soon." He replied, shouldering his duffle bag.

"At least she's expecting us this time." Caesar gave Kateri a pointed look. "I hope you've gotten past half meals and forgetting dinner. Around here, you'll probably be taking in more food than air."

"Great." She said weakly, already beginning to think of ways she could turn down food without sounding rude. She slung her own backpack over her shoulder, but decided it was probably smartest to leave the bow and arrows on the ship until she'd gotten past introductions.

She followed out the two brothers, the three approaching an iron gate at the front of the outside wall. There were already a couple people waiting on the other side, the one at the front being a short older woman with shoulder length white hair and a red headband. Behind her was a boy that seemed around her age with slicked back curls and dark skin, wearing what looked like some kind of jersey.

"Abuela!" Caesar called, waving. The white haired woman at the front waved back, then reached forward and unlatched the gate, pushing it aside.

"Caesar! It's good to see you and your brother again!" She looked past them to where Kateri stood. "Ah, is this the lovely young lady our _Cabeza de Trapo_ brought along!" The woman gave Rex a sly smirk. "She's a pretty one, _hijo_ , how'd you manage to convince her to stick around?"

"Why do you assume I have to bribe a girl into coming?" He complained.

"What's your name, _hermosa_?" Abuela asked.

"Kateri Be-Blackfeather." She replied.

"Kateri. A lovely name for a lovely girl." The woman's accent lightly rolled the 'r' in her name, just like how the archer pronounced it. Kateri had never fully lost her Navajo accent after learning English, which caused her to pronounce a few letters a bit differently*. "Come in, come in, you must be hungry and exhausted from the trip."

She turned and led them towards the double doors behind them, the other teen that had been standing with her pulling the gate shut once everyone was through. Then, he fell into step on Rex's other side a moment later. Caesar and Abrela drifted away from them, lost in conversation in soft Spanish.

"Hey, been awhile since you stopped by." He had a Spanish accent as well, not quite as strong as Abuela's, but not as subdued as Caesar's.

"Yeah, sorry about that Federico." He replied sheepishly. "Time flies when you you're the MVP for somewhere like Providence."

"Yeah, I'm sure." The teen, Federico, lightly shoved Rex with a grin. "While you've been out playing hero, I took your advice. I made the regional team last year."

"Really? That's great!"

"Regional for what?" Kateri asked. Rex seemed to realize that she had no idea who he was talking to, or what they were talking about.

"Oh! Kateri, this is a friend of mine from when I was a kid, Federico. He's a really good soccer player, and went pro last year." He replied, tipping his head in the other teen's direction. He was a bit shorter than Rex, about the same height as Kateri.

"Not quite pro yet, but it's a good place to start." Federico corrected him, rubbing the back of his head. "So Rex, is this your girlfriend?"

Rex and Kateri shared an awkward glance. He didn't answer for a moment, just long enough for Federico to backtrack.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get in your business or anything, I just thought-"

"No, no, it's totally fine." Rex interrupted him. "It's just kind of a complicated situation at the moment, which is part of why we're here. I'll explain later."

"Alright." The curly haired boy gestured forward. "Probably a good idea, because Abuela's planning to stuff you three like teddy bears."

Kateri followed his gesture, her eyes widening the slightest bit at the massive table absolutely _covered_ in food, with other people still bringing more. "Oh god, I'm pretty sure I already feel sick."

"Don't let Abuela hear that." Federico said. "She'll take that to her grave."

"Oh, nice. So I either die from too much food or die of guilt. Loving the selection here."

"Don't worry too much about it, everyone here is super friendly and I think you'll like it." Rex said.

"C'mon, I'll show you where you guys will be staying." Federico led the two down a path Rex was familiar with.

"Isn't this the place my brother and I stayed last time?" Rex asked.

"Yeah." The other boy gave them a cautious glance. "Abuela said that your rooms needed to be close together."

Kateri could see the questions lingering behind his eyes, but he didn't say anything. So, she just answered it anyways. "That's probably because of me. I have problems with nightmares and sometimes I make a lot of noise."

She hated that she saw a flash of pity in his eyes. "Right. Well, after the last time Rex was here, a little bit of remodeling happened here."

He pushed the door open to reveal two beds in the room, still looking very much the same it had before, save for one thing.

"You and Caesar are just sharing the room again while he's here, but after that it's yours." He said. "She's getting my old room, which is probably pretty obvious by now."

There was a door connecting the two rooms on the wall opposite the beds, right where Rex had smashed a hole through it during his last visit.

"Yeah, I guess I never really apologized for that, did I?" Rex rubbed the back of his neck.

"This was easier and faster than rebuilding the wall." He explained, pushing the door open to reveal a room pretty much the same as Rex and Caesar's, except it only had one bed. "Guess it ended up coming in handy after all."

"Guess so." Rex dropped his duffle bag on one of the beds.

"I'll let you settle in a little, I'll come back when it's time for dinner." Federico grinned. "Be prepared for a full blown feast, Abuela loves any excuse to get everyone together like this."

A moment later, the door clicked closed and the curly haired boy was gone.

Kateri glanced around a bit before stepping into the adjoining room. Like the other, her room had a massive window that took up most of one wall that faced the courtyard, with curtains hanging so she could keep out prying eyes. The walls were a soft honey yellow with hardwood floors that gave the room a warm feel. There was a small table beside the bed with a lamp on it and a small two drawer dresser, but the room was otherwise empty.

She reached out and set her lone backpack of the floor beside the bed. _Feels like home already_ she thought to herself with a note of sarcasm. Still, she promised she'd try.

"You doing okay?" Rex asked, coming up behind her and sliding a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She let out a sigh. "It's just gonna take me a bit to adjust, still kinda sensitive to loud noises and crowds."

"It won't be so bad, I bet you have fun." He said.

"Yeah, maybe." She didn't think so. She didn't know any of these people except Caesar and Rex and if these people were really as inviting as Rex said, she got the feeling she'd be subjected to a lot of hugs and other unwanted gestures from people who just meant well.

She'd lived several years with about as much human contact as the inside of a nun's swear jar, sue a girl for not liking strangers touching her.

"Rex?" Both teens glanced over to see Caesar peering though the door that separated the two rooms. "Dinner time."

"Right." The elder brother vanished. "Ready?"

"No." she replied flatly. He reached down and threaded his fingers through hers.

"I'll be right here." He said, and he felt her fingers tighten around his.

"Okay."

(*)

Two hours. It had been two hours and the sky was a deep dusty purple, but a number of warm golden lights and lanterns kept the area well lit, the courtyard still a hive of activity. Two hours and Kateri had long been done with the festivities, but it hadn't been nearly as stifling as she had expected, so she stayed.

Several people had approached her with warm smiles and kind words, welcoming the archer into their home. Rex had been right, this felt more like a family than a community.

After about an hour, though, she'd slipped out of the bulk of the crowd, having had more than her fill of human interaction for a long time. She stayed at the edges of the area, not turning down anyone who approached her, but not seeking out any company herself.

Initially, Rex had tried to stay with her, but she could tell he wanted to catch up with a few of the people he remembered (now that he actually had his memory back) and she told him to just go have fun. He'd been reluctant to go but did eventually slip back into the crowd, though still kept an eye on the girl.

She just hovered against the wall out of the way, sipping at her drink, something called _horchata_. It was a sweetened cinnamon rice milk. It was a tad sweet for her tastes, but she liked the flavor.

She sighed and leaned her head back against the yellow adobe, letting her eyes slip closed. The air was just warm enough she'd tied her jacket around her waist, leaving her in a plain navy T-shirt. From time to time a light breeze would waft over the space, swishing around her hair where she hadn't bothered to do anything with it and just left it down.

"Nice night." Her eyes slid open and she glanced over to see Abe standing in a shadow. "I always liked being places like this, you can see more stars."

"When are you guys going to go away?" she asked, closing her eyes again.

"What, you want us gone that bad?" Mock hurt colored his tone and she could practically feel his smirk.

"Well since I'm technically imagining you three, yeah, kinda." she replied. "I'm supposed to be moving on, this can't be helping."

"That's completely up to you." he replied. "Maybe it's because you don't _want_ to move on."

"You getting tired?" Her eyes opened once again, revealing Abe was gone once again and Rex was approaching her.

"Something like that." she replied. "Socializing had never been a strong suit."

"Yeah, I've noticed." He stood next to her, leaning against the wall as well. "But you're doing pretty well, in my opinion."

 _Yeah, because you don't know I'm hallucinating people_. "I'm doing my best. It's just...frustratingly slow."

"Slow and steady wins the race, or something. Isn't that what everyone tells little kids?" Rex asked.

"Something like that, but this isn't really a race. More like a maze, except you're going in blindfolded and the walls keep moving." she replied, taking another drink of the sweet beverage. "I feel like I'm trying to put together a giant puzzle, but every piece is white and half of them look the same."

Rex's eyes slid forward again. "I don't know what to tell you. This is new territory to me, so I don't really know what to do except make sure I'm here for you."

"That's all you need to do, Rex, you're not obligated to do anything. I put myself in this situation, you don't have to put your life on hold." she said, but the archer knew her words would take no effect.

"You're right, I don't, but I'm going to anyways." he said with a shrug. "Would you do the same thing for me if the situation were reversed?"

"Of course." she said without hesitation. "I would be now, because I know you didn't walk out of that stupid lab without it leaving a mark, but I don't think I can since I'm just as fucked up."

That was something that bothered her frequently. She wanted so badly to return the gesture to the Latino, but since she was still struggling with it, how would she help him if she couldn't help herself?

"Don't sweat it, just worry about you." he said. Rex had other people he could, and did, talk to, but as far as he knew, he was the only one she fully confided in.

"Pretty sure you do enough of that to cover it." she said wryly.

"Maybe, but you need to take care of yourself, because that's something I don't think you've done very well in the past."

No, she hadn't. Instead of getting real help, she just bottled up everything on the inside and let it fester into a massive, unacknowledged ball of self destructive emotions and memories that was proving to be exceptionally difficult to break down.

"I'm tired, I think I'm just going to go to bed." she said after a minute. "It's been a kinda long day and I need to get away from all these people for a bit."

Rex nodded. "Night Kateri."

(*)

It was about two thirty in the morning and Kateri was still awake. Her body was exhausted and, physically, she felt like she could sleep for a week, but her mind just wouldn't calm down enough to allow it.

So far, though, her room had remained blissfully empty aside from her, of both people and apparitions alike. Though she wouldn't deny that she enjoyed being able to talk with her friends, even if half the conversation was in her own head, she knew she shouldn't be entertaining them.

She'd just been playing music through her headphones and idly flicking through Pinterest for hours. She didn't have any real social media, so she'd ended up spending her time flipping through random pictures on the app, not really having much else to do.

God she needed a real hobby. Quiet skills she had extended as far as braiding fancy knots and being able to do a handstand for three solid minutes without leaning against something.

"You could always take up knitting."

So much for silence. The tiny auburnette's voice was loud and clear despite her headphones. She tugged out the earbuds and let them fall into her lap. "Why would I take up knitting? I'm not that desperate that I need to take up little old lady hobbies."

Salem shrugged. "I can crochet, it's not that different."

"Everyone can crochet, it's literally pulling a string through a loop over and over." Kateri replied dryly.

"True, and I can't make shit, but it kills time."

"So does braiding paracord like I tend to, not much difference there."

"Okay, maybe not, just a suggestion." the pyro relented. "What's on your mind, Arrow?"

"You mean besides the fact I keep hallucinating my friends, and then proceed to have conversations with them?"

"Hey, no need to be snippy." Salem griped.

Kateri raised an eyebrow. "Says one of the hallucinated friends."

"Says the one who still keeps talking to them." she countered.

She had a point. "Well sorry, you're a little hard to ignore."

"You know you're gonna have to let go at some point."

Kateri was quiet a minute. "Yeah, I do. None of you are making it any easier."

"We both know it's not just us, Kateri." The archer looked up in surprise. Salem _never_ called her by her real name. It was exceptionally rare any of them did at all, Ema the one who'd use real names the most, but she could count on one hand the number of times Salem called any of them by their given names. "You need to let go of the denial. That place was gonna blow and SE was still loose. Rioter wouldn't have left her and neither would I, do the math."

"No bodies were ever found for any of you and Providence has searched that place from top to bottom. They've even accounted for most of the dead EVOs, what was left of them, and they were on the bottom." Kateri argued. "There's no way any of you made it far enough down to not leave something behind. Abe could have done it."

There was a sadness in those reflective eves that changed colors like a kaleidoscope. "You can't do this to yourself forever."

"Maybe not, but I can only do one thing at a time."

Salem never answered, the archer finding herself alone. Flicking off the screen of her phone, she dropped it on the little table and shimmied beneath the quilt to try and sleep.

(*)

" _Subida y brillo , desayuno!_ "

Kateri groaned, opening her eyes and sitting up a bit, seeing Caesar poking his head in the door between thier rooms. " _Vete a la mierda_." she hissed back.

"Oho, fiesty." he grinned, dodging the pillow she flung at his head. "Somebody isn't a morning person."

"I don't get much sleep, I don't like to give up what I get." she grumbled, glancing at the clock on her phone. Fifteen minutes until eight.

"Better get over that bad mood, Abuela will make you eat a bar of soap instead if you use that language, in Spanish of not." he warned.

"You speak Spanish too?" Rex slurred, stepping into view behind his brother. The younger Salazar clearly hadn't been awake long, only wearing pants and still looking sleepy.

"Not completely fluently, but I can hold a conversation well enough." she replied. "I used to live in a border state, there were always a lot of Hispanics around, so I figured it would be useful." She could also speak half assed Russian since the CEO and all the higher ups from Jessup had been Russian. Not that she'd ever put particularly much effort into learning it well, but it tended to leave a better impression to talk to them in their first language. There was also the Navajo she'd been raised on, but Rex was already aware that English was her second language.

"Anyways, breakfast is in fifteen minutes, life starts early around here." Caesar said. "You two have been put into the chore rotation, but it shouldn't take more than a couple hours, then the rest of the day is yours."

"I'm supposed to keep up my training, otherwise I don't have anything else to do." she said, running a brush through her hair before separating it into three parts and quickly braiding it.

She walked over and pushed the door closed before slipping out off the leggings and tank top she'd slept in, pulling on a set of clothes and getting dressed. She then walked over and tugged open the curtains she'd drawn shut the previous night. Warm gold light streamed into the room, lighting up the honey walls. Everything here looked and felt warm, the rooms, the landscape, even the people. It was all so different than what she was familiar with, but in a good way.

Spinning on one heel, she slipped out of the room through the actual door, following the pathway towards the center courtyard where she'd been last night. There was already a good number of people there, once again helping set up. She felt as though she should offer help, but didn't have any idea how to do so.

"Hey, Kateri!" She looked over and saw Federico waving at her. Since it's not like she had anything else to do, the archer crossed over to the teen.

"Is this what it's like every day?" she asked.

"Pretty much, everyone helps everyone out." he replied. "I usually get up early and help cook."

"How early do you have to get up to make this much food?" she asked.

"Eh, usually around six o'clock. Sounds early, but it's really not that bad once you get used to it." he replied.

"Ugh, I would _never_ get used to that." she shuddered. "I am many things, a morning person is not one of them."

The curly haired boy laughed. "It's not so bad, really. Acacia makes a good cup of coffee."

"I swear I didn't touch it!" Kateri and Federico turned to see Rex flinging his arms over his chest in a pout.

"Well then I'm not sure how else it would have overloaded." Caesar was tinkering with a device in his hands.

"Overloaded what?" Kateri asked, glancing at it curiously. With Caesar's inventions, it could be some kind of handheld weapon of mass destruction or a salad mixer that had to be unloaded on a flatbed truck.

"I was working on something that might be able to suppress the frequency of your nanites when you sleep. Rex told me that sometimes they still shock you." he replied.

"How would it do that?" she asked. Though they currents rarely bothered her anymore, considering she'd felt _much_ worse and they were rather low level anyways, they still tended to shock anyone who touched her, which tended to be Rex.

"It seeks out the signal and bounces back another one to cancel them and negate yours, but I haven't programmed in the secondary signal yet." he replied. "But last night, _something_ " he looked at Rex. "Completely drained the power reserves, which should have lasted a good few weeks."

"That might have been my fault then." she said, pursing her lips. "Sometimes they mess with other devices in general, half the time I turn radio stations into pure static and if I get anxious or angry or something it can make things act funny."

"I told you it wasn't me, I don't touch your stuff!" Rex said with a huff. The few times he'd made that mistake, he'd ended up with many bruises and scrapes.

"Interesting." Caesar nodded, ignoring his brother. "I'll have to look into this when I return, my project is currently at a standstill if it has no power."

"Wait maybe I can fix that. May I?" She reached out for the device.

He wordlessly handed it to her and she simply her it for a moment, feeling a sort of internal hum but otherwise was just holding a machine. After a few minutes, a couple lights began to blink.

"I have no idea how long it will last, but any kind of charged device I carry never loses battery for some reason." she said, handing it back.

"Fascinating. I will definitely explore this further." He then turned and began fiddling with it again.

"Um, what just happened?" Federico had remained quiet throughout the entire exchange. "How did you turn it back on like that?"

Rex and Kateri exchanged a glance before the Latino spoke. "Um, you remember that long story as for why we're here?"

The other boy gave a small nod, and then Kateri spoke.

"Maybe we should fill you in on that long story."

*For a good idea of how her accent would sound, think the way the Na'vi from Avatar would speak English, but much more subtle(meant to put this in FOREVER ago, like last story forever, but I couldn't figure out a good example). African accents would also be a good point of reference(shoutout to whoever said this), but again, pretty watered down.

 **Okay, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering what all has been going on. While a lot of it is really personal, I will say that(for those who are more aware of the situation than others), the person and I have worked out a lot of things. I was in a very difficult position for a while and I was having a hard time handling a lot of things at once and still keep everything on track, but in the past few weeks it's been worked out.**

 **I'm not in the place I was before, so for anyone concerned, I appreciate your well wishes and your concern, it's nice to see when people show they care.**

 **Updates should start continuing regularly, but I may have to start making them bi-weekly instead of every week(every other Tuesday, and yes I know today isn't Tuesday ^^; ). I've been picking up more hours at work, and one of our servers recently tried to OD(oh lord was that a mess, since he came to work. Idiot tried to drive away and if I hadn't gotten in front of his car he'd have probably hurt himself.), and as a result, we've had to cover his shifts, in addition to me just trying to get more time there. I'm also working in Driver's Ed things and finding time to just sit and write(like I spent all my class time doing...) has been harder than I'd expected.**

 **So yeah, there's an update for that! I hope all you enjoyed the chapter, it's good to be back! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!**

 **Until next time!**


	15. Under the Sun

**Boy oh boy, it's been a hot minute...**

 **I could give some big excuse for why I'm so late, but the TL;DR version is that I was working a shit ton of hours the last couple weeks(like...over 100 hours in less than 2 weeks at my "part time" job), to make up for me going out of town for 4 days. I went to the middle of nowhere to go mudding, so obviously internet wasn't a thing, but I lost my laptop charger after I got back and only just found it.**

 **Yeah. I'm a pretty lame adult. I need an adultier adult.**

 **But I haven't forgotten about this story, no. *clutches story* I just got neglected with my overwhelming work load and then my vacation, but I'm back now and hopefully back on track with some consistent updates.**

 **Since I do still work quite a bit(though before I picked up a lot of shifts), I have less time for writing, so I've decided to update every other week from here on out so I don't get behind. They will also be on Tuesdays as usual, this one just isn't because I figured I've kept you guys waiting long enough.**

 **Reminders to update are definitely welcomed and encouraged, so the Tuesday after next, don't hesitate to toss a reminder out there!**

Kateri walked with Federico with a stack of plates in her hands, Rex left behind with sweeping duty. After shedding some light on Kateri's "condition", he'd been a bit quiet, not sure how to respond to the information. She hadn't told him everything and left out many details as to what kind of company Jessup was and the overall mission to the underground lab, dancing around specifics.

" _The place I used to work...wasn't good, and if I'd had another choice, I wouldn't have been there. They had a tendency to resort to extreme measures to keep people in line, and something like that happened to me. She did something to my nanites, made them...run out of sync from everyone else's, and now I'm like this walking electrical anomaly. No one's really sure of the extent of it but sometimes I make electronics act up, or on an internal level, they conduct currents_ really _well, which can in turn make them electrocute me."_

That was about where she'd stopped before Rex had taken over, only briefly explaining that she had come there because her last mission had been very difficult, being responsible for over a dozen lives and was where she'd met her breaking point. The curly haired teen hadn't felt a need to press further.

Now, after checking the chore schedule, they were tasked in helping with dishes, along with a few other people. Glancing at the rest of the sheet, Kateri noted this seemed to be her only job for the day.

"You're still technically a guest, so Abuela isn't going to have you working all day." Federico had told her, who was on there twice more for the day. "Especially since she knows you're here to get better."

"It's fine either way, I've been about dying of boredom at Providence, since all I ever do it training and these pseudo-therapy sessions with Doctor Holiday. Honestly, after all the shit that I've done in my life, chores hardly count as work." she'd replied, setting her stack down beside a sink. There were a couple others where people would pair up, one washing and one drying, the two teens doing the same. "Here, I'll wash them since this is all I have today."

"Thanks." he said. A few moments of silence passed as she let the basin fill with hot water. "So um, not to be nosey, but what's up with you and Rex? You guys kinda froze up when I said something before, I just don't want to say something out of line."

"No, no, you're fine, I think it just caught us off guard. It did me anyways." She chewed her lip a moment as she tried to think of the best was to answer. "We're not exactly...together, per se, but the friend ship sailed a while back. It's mostly because of me, because I don't want to try to start anything until I can get my mental issues figured out." She paused, her mouth ticking in a wry smile. "Well, doesn't _that_ make it sound like I'm crazy."

"Not at all. If what you did is anything like what Rex does, it just makes you sound human." He took the plate she handed him, running a towel over the dripping ceramic. "Nobody's bulletproof, on the outside or inside. I think you're doing the right thing."

She dipped another dish into the steaming water, _almost_ hot enough to scald her, turning her hands pink. "Sometimes I'm still not sure, but it's that uncertainty that keeps me from doing anything." She let out a sigh through her nose. "My life would not be this complicated if I was a normal teenager."

"Would you change it, though?" he asked, wiping water from the cup she handed him. "It would mean your life was easier, but would you have met the same people? Met Rex? Had the chance to help that many people?"

"...no, I guess not." It wasn't the first time she'd considered the fact that all those people, people like Charlie, Willow and Jordan, or Alice and Kira, would probably still be down there, possibly dead, had she and the others not gotten them out. "I know it sounds selfish, but there's still a part of me that wishes it wasn't me. Why me? What did I do to deserve to go through that? What I going to be a shitty person otherwise?"

The Hispanic boy only had a small shrug to over. "I don't have an answer for you. People say the best people always get dealt the worst hand because they're the ones who can handle having it. Someone petty and selfish wouldn't have been able to do those things, they wouldn't have tried."

"Maybe not. I just hope the next one I get is a little better." She swished the scrubbing brush around on another plate, changing the subject. "Hey, just out of curiosity, what do you know about archery?"

(*)

"How did you do that?"

Kateri grinned, lowering the bow in her hand. Three arrows were lined up in a… somewhat straight line in the tree in front of her, all three fired at once. Granted, it was maybe twenty feet away, so she was pretty close to it as far as her shooting standards went, but it was still enough to impress Federico.

"Dude, you should see when she's moving around and stuff." Rex chimed in. He'd tagged along with them, figuring they could run through their training routine too. "It's kinda freaky how accurate she can be."

"Only with one, Rex stop overselling." she quickly corrected. "Once you've been doing it for a while, it becomes second nature, and to just shoot one is pretty easy."

"Can you do that Robin Hood thing where he splits the arrow down the middle?"

She had to hold back an eye roll. "You're not the first person to ask that, by a long shot. No, I can't, I'm pretty sure that's impossible. I've tried it before, with wood arrows too. With those, I _can_ get it to split it a little bit, but it slows down so much after hitting the end that it just follows the grain of the wood instead of cutting it in half, so all I do is ruin an arrow."

"What about those?" He nodded at the carbon based arrows in her quiver.

"Well, that can depend of how hard I shoot it, but usually this." She pulled another one out, taking several big steps back. "You two might want to move back."

The boys exchanged a curious glance, then complied. Kateri slipped into stance and drew the string back until the flax brushed against her cheek before letting go. For the two boys, it seemed to slow down as it sped towards the top arrow in the tree.

The razor tip hit the hard plastic nock on the end of the other arrow, before the shaft of the one embedded in the tree burst into a spray of carbon fragments, shattering. The arrowhead was still stuck into the tree, but there was maybe two inches of the shaft left, the end jagged and uneven. The arrow she'd shot at it had also snapped in half lying in two pieces at the base of the tree, having fallen straight down.

" _That's_ what happens." she said, lowering her bow.

"It just...breaks?" Rex asked, walking forward curiously and picking up one of the halves of the second arrow.

"Pretty much. The force from the second arrow doesn't have anywhere to go, so it just bounces back and forth until it breaks." she said, walking forward as well to pick up as many pieces of the broken arrow as she could find. "I think the other one breaks because it tried to bend and, well, carbon fiber doesn't really bend. Whenever I do it with wooden arrows, they don't normally break, so that's my best guess."

"You sound like you're really gotten it down to a science." Federico commented.

She shrugged. "More or less, I'm just really familiar with how it works by this point. I also may or may not have gotten some of that information from an episode of Mythbusters I was trying to prove wrong." She pocketed the pieces. "I failed pretty epically with that one, it did exactly the same thing."

Rex laughed a bit at that. "I feel like you spent more time doing that than you'd admit."

Kateri remained silent, carefully picking through the sparse grass for any pieces she may have missed, being _extra_ careful.

"I'm gonna head back." Federico said as Kateri straightened. "You guys still have to do your training stuff and I'm not really cut out for that. Let me know if you wanna get your butts whooped in soccer, though!"

They waved as the curly haired boy walked off.

"Okay, so what's first?" Kateri asked, shrugging the quiver off her shoulder and leaning it against the tree by her bow.

A cocky smirk pulled at the Latino's lips. "Speed."

"Pff, easy." she shrugged.

"Do me a favor and remember which one of us has had the sixth most dangerous person in the world as his mentor for the last eight years." Rex said, before beginning to move.

The answer was not Kateri.

(*)

"Okay, okay...hold up…" Kateri held up her hand, her sides heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Rex's breathing was also quite heavy and didn't seem far off from calling a break either, but the panting Navajo beat him to the punch. "Okay, I'll give you some credit, you're better than what first impressions would have told."

Rex, who was still panting as much as the archer, still gave a smug smirk. "Told you I'm pretty awesome. I've kinda been pushing harder to see how much you can take."

"Oh, so you _have_ been going soft on me because I'm a girl?" she accused, pushing her sweaty bangs from her face.

"Not because you're a girl, I've had plenty of girls kick my butt." Rex paused, smirk dropping off. "Wait, that's not what I meant to say."

"Uh huh."

"Anyways, not everybody's had the kind of training I have, or for as long." he reasoned. "I've still got a couple years on you, too. Although, I'm still pretty sure you're doing better than a majority of people would be."

"But still not better than you?" she asked sarcastically.

He shrugged. "Depends, you've got an advantage no one else does. If you _really_ wanted to, you could probably beat me."

He was right, but Kateri didn't like it. Emotional manipulation like that, was something that could almost make her sick, especially because of how much it had happened to her to keep her loyal to Jessup. "Maybe, but I like knowing I could actually just knock the shit out of you and be done, because a trick like that only works once and only works with you."

Another shrug. "Fair enough. Honestly, you're not that far behind. Once Six starts _real_ training with you, I bet the scale tips."

"Guess we'll just have to wait and _see_." On her last word, she stooped down and swept his legs out from under him, then pounced on the teen. "Or maybe I just need to get the jump on you, I seem to be able to do that pretty well."

Rex coughed a bit where the force winded him, then glanced up at the girl. Any words he was going to say died in his mouth.

It's not like she'd never knocked him over and pinned him down before, but right then, Rex's brain wasn't processing much except the girl over him. The sun hit the side of her face, lighting up one side with warm golden light that made her toffee skin glow in a way the white fluorescent lights just didn't. Her full lips were curled up in a light smile, with a white strip where her teeth showed through. Her earthy green eyes sparkled with a lighthearted playfulness that held a hint of mischief. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her so at ease, without the lingering uncertainty of being in the looming building, and without the cautious barrier she'd put up knowing she was surrounded by people who probably didn't have a great opinion of her.

After a moment, she raised an eyebrow as he still didn't say anything, only staring at her. "What?"

"Oh, um...yeah, you caught me off guard." he said, hoping that the blush on his face would be passed off as overheating. Well, from the sun.

"I did?" She glanced around from her position over him, the Latino having made no effort to get her off. "Hm, I hadn't noticed."

"Yeah, yeah, come on. It's getting kinda hot and I bet it'll be lunch soon." he said, Kateri releasing him. She extended a hand down to help the teen up, hoisting Rex up without a significant amount of effort.

"So, earlier when you were going all Artemis on us, Federico mentioned that he and few of the others were going down to this lake about a half mile away to go swimming after lunch." Rex began. "Sound like fun?"

Kateri let out a small laugh. "Only in southern Mexico could I go swimming at the end of January. I don't exactly have a swimsuit or anything."

"Oh. Um, I'm sure that someone would let you borrow one, or your could just wear shorts and a T-shirt. This is a lake, there's no lifeguard to tell you to leave because you don't have an 'actual swimsuit'." he said, which elicited another small laugh.

"Maybe." she finally said. "But it does sound like fun. Is there a diveboard?"

"Uh, there's a tree people jump out of." He glanced over at her with a grin. "Why, you gonna show everybody up with fancy diving stuff?"

She scoffed. "No, I have no idea how to do that stuff, I was just curious. Not any better than just a normal person could do. I can do a swan dive and that's about as far as real skill goes."

Rex shrugged. "Not to brag, but I hold the cannonball record."

"That doesn't surprise me nearly as much as you were probably hoping."

"Are you calling me fat?!"

"No, I'm saying you probably cheated." She gave him a sideways look. "You gonna tell me you didn't use _any_ of your machines to make a bigger splash?"

"I'm hurt."

"I've got a Hello Kitty band-aid right here, special just for you." Her tone couldn't be more patronizing if it started dripping like syrup. "Do I need to kiss it to make it better?"

"I wouldn't complain if I was kissed." he replied with a crooked grin.

Kateri rolled her eyes. "Damn shame it was only your pride that was hurt, can't exactly kiss that."

"Nope, but I'll settle for right here and we can call it even." He tapped one finger on his mouth.

"A kiss with a fist is better than none." She retorted flicking her fist at him. He flinched despite the fact her hand didn't go anywhere close to his face and she laughed.

"I feel like I've heard that before." he commented, holding the gate open for her, albeit grudgingly.

"Probably, it's from a song by Florence and the Machine." she replied. "They also have a song called Girl With One Eye."

"This band is a bad influence on you."

"If you think that about Florence, let's not show you Mother Mother, because Body makes that one sound like a kid's cartoon." she said with a teasing grin. "Let's _definitely_ keep you away from Porcelain and the Tramps."

"Where do you find these people? Don't you listen to normal music like Linkin Park and Three Days Grace?" Rex asked.

She lifted one shoulder. "Yeah, I listen to pretty much everything, from quiet stuff like The Fray and Daughter, or stuff like Red and Halsey, including the ones you said. Starset and Amber Run are pretty good too, so are Staind and Trading Yesterday. I draw my line at mariachi and trashy hip hop shit." she replied, rattling off bands.

"Half of these sound like indie bands."

"A lot of them are, like Alt-J, or He Is We, to name a couple of the less mainstream ones." She paused in her speech and gave him a funny look. "You know, I don't know if I remember the last time I actually just rambled on about stuff like this. It's kinda bizarre."

Rex grinned and shrugged. "Distractions can be good sometimes. You kinda need to just take a step back and be a little more...well, normal sometimes."

"Normal is an illusion." she said with a dry smile.

"Something tells me you didn't come up with that yourself." he threw back.

"Yeah, I heard it from this one guy I know. He's pretty smart, though he kinda acts like a dumbass most of the time. Cute too."

"Sounds like a pretty legit dude."

"Yeah, I'd say so."

By now, they'd arrived back at the little village, Rex having been correct as they were beginning to set up for lunch.

"I don't know how long I can handle Abuela-style meals." Kateri said. "I'm pretty sure breakfast covered enough food for like three days."

"That's the spirit." he said, pulling out a chair for the girl before settling in next to her.

At the head of the table, Abuela clinked a spoon on her cup, bringing everyone's attention to the short Hispanic woman.

" _Buenas Dias_ everyone! I'm sure you've all noticed by now, but our _Cabeza de Trapo_ has come back for a visit!" she announced with a grin.

" _Cabeza de Trapo…?_ " Kateri glanced at Rex from the corner of her eye. "Why'd she just call you head cloth? Or did she mean…" The penny dropped for the girl and she began to giggle as Rex let out a thin sigh.

Abuela continued speaking. "He also brought another guest with him, this lovely young lady, Kateri! She will be staying with us for a few weeks, and I want to make sure she feels like part of the family."

With that, Abuela took her seat and gestured for the meal to begin.

"So, I know it's only your first day here, but what do you think?" Rex asked after a few minutes.

Kateri picked at a few pieces of chicken. "Well, it's still going to take some getting used to, but it's not as suffocating as Providence. Everything here is so open and warm, and it's bright in a different way, less...artificial. Here it's all sun and big windows, everyone helping each other out and making sure everything is fair. No one gets any less or any more than someone else, which is how it should be." She slid a piece of chicken into her mouth, flavors of lime, cilantro and chili spreading through her mouth. "I like it."

Rex grinned. "Good, I'm glad you're happier here."

Kateri nodded and smiled back, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

(*)

"Kateri, come _on_."

"You seem _awfully_ eager for me to take off my shirt."

"Are you serious-Kateri, _you're wearing a swimsuit._ " Rex groaned. The Latino was clad in only gray swim trunks with a few red accent stripes, and had been trying to convince the Navajo take off the T-shirt she was wearing over the swimsuit. One of the other girls had given her a swimsuit, having bought a size too small and it fit her, but Kateri still didn't take off her T-shirt.

Glancing around, she then stepped closer to him. "Rex, literally my entire back is exposed."

 _Oh_. Realization hit the EVO teen like a two ton truck. "Kateri, no one here is gonna care about your scars. Remember when I told you about the EVO stuff that was going on here last time I came?"

She nodded. Most of the teens, including Federico, had been shapeshifting EVOs.

"Well, a lot of them have scars from that." He grabbed her hand and placed it on his side. "I have scars too. Just because you have more doesn't mean anyone is going to think any less of you."

Her hand twitched a bit as he felt the smooth stripe under her palm. She'd only seen Rex without a shirt once before, and hadn't really been focusing on his skin in the dark light of her room, but now she did see that he had a number of scars littering his body as well, most small, but some looking like they had been sizeable gashes, like the one under her hand.

She also noticed five small, asterisk shaped scars on his abdomen, remembering what he'd said about an encounter with Van Kleiss.

Though she didn't think anyone had scars quite like hers(the entire upper half of her back was almost solid scar tissue, after all), she knew he _did_ have a point. "Alright, fine."

She grabbed the hem, arms crossing over her face as she pulled off the forest green shirt, keeping her eyes on the ground as a light blush came over her cheeks, her fingers picking at the end of her braid. A moment later, Rex blushed too. The top was mainly black with a thick band of a light blue wrapping around her ribs, the ties around her neck blue as well. The bottoms were reversed, being primarily light blue with a band of black around her hips.

"See, it's fine." he said, tugging her wrist towards the lake, where most of the teens were already in the water. Those who weren't were lined up in the tree. She glanced quickly over the ones who weren't in the water. Though they were nothing close to hers, or even Rex's, everyone had at least one good sized scar somewhere. It made her feel a bit better about her own.

With a loud whoop, one boy threw his body off the branch into a sloppy flip before splashing into the water.

Rex laced his fingers together to lift her into the tree. She responded by taking one step back and jumping up, grabbing onto a low hanging branch and moving to stand on the branch just below the one with everyone else on it in a few seconds.

Rex gave her a flat look. "Y'know, just once would it kill you to actually act like I'm useful?"

"What's the fun in that?" she taunted with a smirk. He climbed up the tree as well, moving almost a quickly as she had. "Why should I feed the hero complex?"

"I don't have a hero complex." he grumbled.

"Yeah you do. Just a little." she replied, stepping up onto the thick branch that hung over the water. Rex followed her.

He watched as she spread her arms out, about to do the swan dive, when he leaned back and pushed her right between her shoulders. Her eyes flew open as her balance skewed, but she managed to twist her body around enough to seize his wrist. Then, she pushed off the branch, adding to the momentum off the fall and dragging Rex down with her.

He heard where the water smacked against the girl's back, his side doing the same a moment later with a chilly sting as white froth swirled over his body as water enveloped him. He kicked his legs, head breaking the surface a moment later as his wet hair fell into his eyes. Kateri popped up next to him, her own bangs stuck to her face as well.

"You ass!" she reached over and shoved him, but the laughter that followed immediately told him that she wasn't upset at all. "To think I actually though you _wouldn't_ push me!"

"I know, kinda dumb, right?" he replied, shoving back.

She then gave him the most evil smirk he'd seen to date, one Salem would be proud of, and she ducked below the water.

Any humor instantly dropped of Rex's face, and he began frantically searching the water to see if he could see the archer, but he was met with no such luck, the water being too dark. He began to swim away from the area, but he'd barely gotten anywhere before he felt something latch onto his ankle. He had time to let out one short yelp before he was jerked beneath the water.

Now was probably too late to remember that she was stronger than she looked, despite her telling him her lower body was stronger(hello, archer, she _had_ to have good upper body strength). He wasn't moving particularly quickly, but since he couldn't use one leg, she was still pulling him down. He kicked out with his other one, trying to shove her hand off his ankle, but hit something else instead. There was a jolt in her grip before she released him.

Thinking he may have accidentally hurt her, he swam for the surface, breaking the water first as he waited on her.

A moment later, she appeared as well, one hand clamped over her face. "Goddamnit, Rex!" she hissed, pulling it back to see it her palm and nose were bloody. The water that thinned out the blood made it look worse, but there was still a fair about of blood.

"Gah, I'm sorry!" he said, trying to get a better look at her face, but she nudged him back.

"It's fine, it's just a little blood, not even broken." she said, throwing water onto her face to wash off the messy red liquid. "I guess we're even, yeah?"

"For this, or for when you made my nose bleed too?"

"Both." She shrugged. "Far as I'm concerned, a nosebleed here and there is nothing."

"Hey, Rex!" Federico waved at them, a few curls stuck to his forehead with more sprung up all over his head instead of swept back like usual. "You ready to defend that cannonball record of yours?"

"Oh, _hell_ yes!"

 **Yay fun times. I know everyone's probably thinking something awful is gonna happen now. It probably will, but not for a decent while. I'm letting have a nice, good break from all the bullshit, but I can also promise you it isn't all filler.**

 **Also, I have no explanation for why but my gut is telling to make Federico gay and give him a boyfriend. I'm not so far ahead I couldn't put this in, any thoughts? I'm a sucker for cute gay couples, I JUST CAN'T.**

 **Leave me a review and tell me what you guys think! Thanks so much for your patience!**


	16. Let the Light In

**Late chapter is late. My work schedule changes every week so I got my days messed up and honestly just forgot.**

 **Hope y'all like it.**

"Three, three, three!" The teens chanted in the water below as Kateri stood on the branch. She quickly found that, because of her training, she could actually do multiple flips before hitting the water, and the others were trying to see how many she could do. She reached up and grabbed another branch, hoisting herself up so she had a few more feet of space. Her back still tingled a bit from where Rex shoved her in and she wasn't eager to hit it again. Then, she jumped and tucked her body into a ball.

Just before she hit the water, she managed to straighten and dive forward, breaking the water and hitting it (relatively) smoothly. A few seconds later, her head bobbed above the surface.

"If you can do four, you'll break Mauricio's record!" said Roana, the girl who'd given her the swimsuit.

"Yeah, don't do four!" one boy, presumably Mauricio, "cheered".

"Ah, don't be a jealous little _puta."_ , one of the other boys teased. "You're just scared a girl's gonna show you up."

"Am not!"

"After this I'm done!" Kateri said, pulling herself out of the water once again. She was getting bored with the diving. She climbed up onto the branch she'd jumped off before above the big one, crouching down a bit and bouncing to get as much leverage as she could before jumping.

Hitting the water in a whiteout of bubbles, she felt a sting on her arm where she hadn't had enough time to actually dive into the water, breaking the surface rather ungracefully, but she was still pretty sure she'd managed four. Barely.

Swimming back to the surface, she shook the water from her eyes as her ears were assaulted with whistles and whoops. Well, except for one person.

"Can I call bullshit?!" Mauricio whined. "She's got freaky training stuff like Rex, that's an unfair advantage."

"Nope!" replied Rex, who'd swam up behind her. "She won fair and square!"

"You're biased!"

"True, I am." he replied with a careless shrug. He then vanished below the water, and Kateri jumped when she felt something grab her calves. A second later, she rose up out of the water, sitting on Rex's shoulders. "But she still won."

Then, the girl sitting on his shoulders let out a shriek as she was flung backwards, both she and Rex hitting the water with a loud splash. They came up at the same time, Rex already laughing. Kateri, however, was coughing and sputtering, as her hair was plastered to her entire head in a wet, black curtain, having come loose from the braid. After a moment of struggling, she dipped under the water again, this time coming up face first so the hair was swept behind her.

"I think I lost my hair tie." she said, reaching back and raking her fingers through the length of it to see if the band had somehow gotten ensnared in it.

"How tragic." Rex said, playing with a few of the strands as they floated around her body.

"You have no idea. In case you hadn't noticed, it's pretty freaking long and thick, so when it's soaked, it gets _heavy_." she grumbled, gathering it up in one hand and beginning to wring it out, then stopped. "What the hell am I doing, I'm in the middle of a lake."

"You're trying to wring out your hair thinking it's going to get you anywhere, in the middle of a lake." Rex replied with a grin.

"This is why I braid it." she said, shoving it over her shoulder. "It keeps it from holding as much water."

"I'll add that to the list of problems that you have that I don't." Rex said with a smirk, crossing his arms behind his head and floating on his back.

Kateri narrowed her eyes and swam forward a bit, seizing the Latino's left arm. His eyes popped open and he audibly gulped as she looked from his wide brown eyes to the wet blue hair tie around his wrist.

"Now would be a good time to swim away, wouldn't it?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head with his other hand.

"You have three seconds." She said before releasing his arm and dropping below the water.

Rex had never swam so fast in his life.

(*)

As it turned out, it still wasn't fast enough. Kateri caught up with him, much faster than he thought she should've been able to(she guessed which way he went and was already ahead of him, shhh), and now the Latino sported a red handprint that fit the girl's hand perfectly on his shoulder. Though, she hadn't _meant_ to leave a mark like that, she didn't take into account how much friction the water would add.

They were now walking back to the compound, Kateri rubbing a towel through her hair as she walked in an attempt to soak up some of the water. After that, she began picking through it with her fingers to a least try to unravel some of the knots in it. She'd pulled her T-shirt back on, but just held her jeans over her arm so they stayed dry. Since her legs were wet she wouldn't have been able to pull them on anyways.

Glancing at Rex, who had a towel and his shirt draped around his neck as he walked, the girl was hit by a sudden, playful sort of mood. Slowing her pace just a bit, she let the Latino get several feet ahead of her.

"Kateri, what-!" he turned his head just in time to see the girl sprinting at him, leaping onto his back and very nearly knocking them both over. He stumbled forward a few steps, hands latching onto her legs to keep her from sliding as she locked her arms around his shoulders. "What gives?"

"Aw, c'mon, don't be a killjoy." she grinned, then leaned a little closer. "I'm in a good mood, can't a girl have a little fun?"

Rex smiled a little at her words, further reinforcing that her coming here was a good idea. "Not when that fun involves me carrying you the rest of the way back."

"Oh, you're gonna carry me?" she said, shifting a bit on his back and settling against his . "No complaints here."

"Yeah? I've got a few." he grumbled, but didn't try to make the girl get down. If carrying her back would preserve the lighthearted mood that was slowly, oh so slowly, becoming more frequent, then he'd do it.

She moved to lean her elbows on the tops of his shoulders and rest her chin on the top of his head, his hair laying down for once instead of spiked because it was still wet. "So, later tonight, I want to show you something."

"Really? What?" he asked.

"If I wanted you to know, I'd have told you in the first place." she said dryly. "It's nothing bad, I promise. You'll like it."

"...fine."

Kateri grinned, letting her arms drape over his shoulders as she closed her eyes, letting the sun warm her face.

(*)

"You sure this isn't gonna blow up in my face?"

"About as sure as you are."

"Salem, that's not helping." Kateri gave the auburnette sitting cross legged on her bed an irritated look from the floor where she was working.

"I'd say I'm sorry, but…" she trailed off and shrugged. "If you want a better answer, try asking Sideeffects."

Kateri didn't reply. She didn't tend to see the tiny blond with the blue streaks as much as Salem and Abe, and the best reason she could think of was that, because she _was_ a genius, Kateri simply wasn't intelligent enough to personify her. Or something like that, hell, she wasn't a psychologist.

"So what's this all about?" Salem continued when the archer did not, gesturing around to the things on the floor.

"You ask like you don't know."

"Humor me, Arrow."

Kateri sighed. "I just wanted to do something nice. Rex is doing a lot to try to help me, so I'm doing what I can to return the favor."

"That's adorable." The pyro grinned.

"Salem, shut the fuck up."

Salem let out a cackle. "If I had a dollar for every time someone said that to me, I could start my own country."

"You could probably keep the entirety of North America afloat for a good few years." Kateri tacked on.

"Oh, that's just rude. You saying I talk too much?"

"No, because you're too busy proving my point without me saying anything."

"Wow." Salem put a hand on her chest. "I'm wounded, really."

"Then slap a bandaid on it and be a man about it." The Native American girl's lips twitched up in a small smile. "Come to think of it, find yourself a big one and stick it over your mouth. I think you'll find a lot less jokes at your expense that way."

"You know what? We're not friends anymore, I quit." Salem pouted.

"What, our friendship just 'lose that spark'?" Kateri grinned.

Salem's face fell into a completely blank expression. "You're dead to me."

"Love ya too, Salem."

"Hmh."

She heard a soft knock at the door dividing the two rooms and her head snapped up. She quickly shoved what she was working on under her bed. "Yeah?"

The door nudged open a few inches and Caesar poked his head through. "Dinner in fifteen. What are you doing in here? Haven't seen you in a few hours."

"Uh, working on something." she replied, standing and sitting on her, empty, bed. "Nothing bad, it's kinda a surprise for Rex."

The elder Salazar gave a knowing grin. "Alright, I won't say anything. See you in a few."

She nodded in acknowledgement and he closed the door, leaving her alone in the room.

(*)

"Kateri, where are we going?"

They were outside, that much he knew. The air was still warm, nights not getting much colder in the desert. It had been dusk when they left, the sky stained a vivid magenta as the sun began to set. He guessed they'd been walking for about ten minutes now over the uneven dirt, with Kateri leading him.

"This is the fourth time you've asked, if I haven't answered now, I'm not going to." the archer said, tugging the Latino along, a bandana tied over his eyes with his goggles hanging around his neck.

His foot caught a rock and he stumbled forward a few steps into Kateri. "It'd be great if you didn't run me into stuff-what was that rattling?"

"You'll see, now shut the hell up and walk, we're almost there." she said, leading him up to an old laurel tree that had gotten enormous. She dropped something beside it before stepping behind him and tugging off the makeshift blindfold.

Rex blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust. The sky was a deep navy with a bright streak of orange at the horizon where the sun had just barely dipped below it, a few tiny dots peeking out of the color. Glancing down, he saw a blanket spread over the ground, along with a basket, a bottle and a couple of mugs. "What's all this?"

Kateri smiled, stepping beside him. He noticed that the top layer of her hair had been pulled back into a small braid to keep it out of her way while the rest of it remained loose, something she'd never worn before, but he liked it. "You've been doing a lot to help me, things that you don't have to do, so I wanted to do something nice for you, even if it's small."

Rex just returned her smile and slid an arm around her waist in a hug.

The archer knelt down beside the basket, picking up the bottle. "It's just sparkling grape juice, but it still falls into the cheesy date aesthetic."

"So this is a date?" Rex asked with a crooked smirk, sliding off his jacket after tucking his gloves into one of the pockets.

She shrugged. "Dunno. Can't a couple people just sit and have a little picnic at dusk without labeling it?" she asked with a light chuckle. "There's not really that much here, since dinner was a couple hours ago, but I swiped a few things and Acacia gave me some sopapillas."

"Seriously? Awesome, they never let you have more than three at dinner." Rex said, taking the coffee mug of fizzy juice(because we're classy down here). "Seriously, this is all really nice, Kateri."

"Oh, no, this isn't the good part." she said with a grin, taking a sip of her own drink.

"What do you mean…?" He watched as she stood and grabbed her bow and quiver, leaning unnoticed up against the tree. He noticed that the shafts of the arrows were plain wood, as well."What's that for?"

"Just watch." She pulled out one of the arrows, the end of it a small cardboard cylinder instead of an arrowhead. Then, she tugged out a lighter and caught the end of it on fire. Pulling it back, she waited a moment, watching it burn, then aimed it straight up and released it.

The tiny dot of flame raced upward before bursting into an explosion of green sparks.

"Is...did you make your arrows into fireworks?" Rex asked, eyes wide as he watched the tiny crackling dots fade away.

"Well, I made some wooden dowels with notches cut in and fletches into fireworks, I'm not about to blow up my arrows." she replied, her soft olive eyes sparkling. "I've kinda been planning this for a while, I've been working on them on and off for a week or so."

"Really?" She nodded, pulling out another. This time, the sparks were blue. A few moments later, two went off simultaneously, another blue and red. "This is probably the coolest thing a girl has ever done for me."

She paused in lighting the next one. "C'mere."

Rex walked up next to her. "What's up-uh, what?"

He looked down blankly at the compound bow she'd put in his hands.

"You try." she said, flicking her lighter to light the end of the arrow.

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" He pulled the end away from the tiny flame. "I have no idea how to shoot a bow!"

"Rex, it's literally a fancy slingshot." she told him. "It isn't that hard-here, just pull it back and I'll help you. I promise I won't light it until you're ready."

He gave her an uncertain look. "Okay…"

He did his best to mimic her movements, surprised by the amount of force he needed up get the string pulled back. It wasn't really difficult, but regardless, it had more resistance than he'd been expecting. "Am I doing this right?"

"...if you want to take the skin off your left arm, yeah." Standing on her toes, she reached around him and rotated his left arm a bit. "Here, don't use your finger to hold up the arrow, either, or you're gonna be digging plastic feathers out of it."

"Sounds like there's a story behind that one." he commented as she curled his finger around the grip to let the arrow rest on the side of his knuckle.

"There it is, but it's not that interesting." she replied. "Alright, you're gonna want to pull the string to your cheek, where it should rest against the bridge of your nose, and no, it's not gonna scrape you. Got it?"

"Uh, I think?" he replied, not sound sure of himself at all.

"Alright, now just point it up." she said, reaching out and letting the end of it catch on fire.

He did as she instructed, and after a moment, let it fly. It didn't go quite as high as Kateri's, but it still brought forth a bright shower of white. "This is probably the most kickass date I've ever been on."

"Not too bad." she said. "Your form is sloppy as all hell and I'm fairly certain your aim would be garbage, but considering I doubt you've ever fired a bow before, it's not that bad."

"I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be complemented or insulted." he said with a rueful grin.

"Coming from me, you might as well take it as a compliment." she said. "I'm not trying to be conceited about my own skill, either. By this point, I'm kinda a snob about it in general, so me saying anything nice at all is a compliment."

"Well then, thanks." he said, sounding more like he was asking a question.

"Shoot another one. You're not trying to hit anything but air, so you don't need much skill, and practice never hurt anyone." she said, pulling out another makeshift firework arrow and handing it to him.

"Can you do it again so I can watch? I never actually payed all that much attention to every little thing you did." he asked.

"Sure, I made fifteen of them, plenty to go around." she said, taking back the bow and lighting the arrow. This time, she moved a bit slower and more precisely, feeling Rex's eyes watching her motions. Feet apart, no wider than her shoulders, parallel to each other and perpendicular to her target if she were shooting straight instead of up. Muscles relaxed, stance firm, back straight. Hand on grip, bow tilted ever so slightly to the right so the arrow wouldn't slip off her hand. Raise the bow first, then pull back the string. Flax brushing her cheek and nose lightly, feeling the tension of the string even though it barely touched her. Let the arrow go.

This time, it blew up more quickly, bursting into a purple shower after a second and bringing a few live embers to the ground because of how close it had been. Kateri watched the little glowing dots for a minute, making sure they all fizzled out.

"Okay, I think I got it." he said and she passed the bow to him. He tugged an arrow from the quiver on her back before sliding it into place, slipping the string through the roughly cut notch in the end that served as a nock as Kateri lit the end. Mimicking her movements as best as he could, he drew back the string, this time a little easier since he knew what to expect, and raised the bow up before firing it into the air.

He hissed as the string snapped against the inside of his forearm, but watched the arrow fly regardless, a green firework bursting in reward.

Looking down, he saw a red streak on his skin from where the string had whipped against it.

"That I saw coming." Kateri spoke before he could ask. "If you lock your arm out straight, the string lines up to it too much, which is something I admit I did a lot at first. Remember when I moved your arm before, so it was slightly bent?" He nodded. "That's to make sure it's held away from the string, which is also where the most challenging part of aiming will come in. If you lock your arm, it's pressure that's holding it in place and keeping it steady, but with your arm bent, you're having to rely of pure strength to hold it up and still."

"For someone who sells this as a glorified slingshot, there's an awful lot of fine tuned stuff with archery." he commented, lowing the bow and absently rubbing at his arm.

She shrugged. "Once you get the hang of it, that really is all it is." She knelt down and dug through the basket a bit, pulling out a little tube of antibiotic cream. She'd expected the Latino to end up getting hurt in some fashion, if her own experiences were anything to go by. He'd actually done a lot better than she'd expected, certainly with fewer injuries than her first attempt, though he _had_ only shot two arrows.

"You brought stuff for this?" Rex asked skeptically. "Were you planning for me to get hurt or something?"

"Not really planning it, but the first time I ever shot a bow, I was digging pieces of artificial feathers out of my fingers, had about four blisters on the same hand and popped my arm more times that I remember. I figured something would happen." she replied, unscrewing the cap and reaching for his arm. She began gently rubbing the transparent gel over the angry red mark, movements careful as she worked at the tender skin. "Besides, we're both kinda reckless, it's not a bad thing to carry in general. I used to keep some in my quiver."

"Yeah, I guess that's smart." he said, drawing his arm back when she finished. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." She stuck the tube in her pocket. "I take it you're done now?"

"Well I'm not exactly jumping up and down for your bow to attack me again, but it's kinda fun." he said, tossing the weapon to her.

Kateri laughed, catching it easily. "Alright, suit yourself. We can keep it up if you get an arm guard, though, until you learn how to hold it right. Probably saved my arm from looking like Deadpool gave me a skin graft."

"Sounds good." he nodded. "Maybe we can have like some kind of archery team like Green Arrow and Speedy."

Kateri raised an eyebrow. "Even if that was the case, I'd be Green Arrow. Experience." she spoke over him before he could protest. "Besides, realistically, it would take you a good couple years to develop enough skill with it to be able to use it in the field and have it be useful. I didn't use it as a primary weapon until I was fourteen, but I started learning when I was eleven."

"What did you use before that?" he asked. It never occurred to him that at any point she didn't use the bow, and couldn't really picture her without it.

She shrugged. "I only went on a few missions before that, I wasn't an active agent until I was thirteen almost fourteen, but I just used a dart gun with either sedatives or poison in them." Glancing at the ground and growing a bit quieter, the spoke. "Though, I never used the poison. I never killed anyone until that first hit mission."

"A lot of stuff happened when you were fourteen." He noted, trying to change the subject a bit, thought in retrospect, that might not have been the best thing to change it to.

"Yeah, I became active four weeks before my birthday and didn't get a mission until two. It was my rookie year, so a lot of the worst shit happened then. If I had any concept of innocence left, that year ruined it."

He walk forward and wrapped her into a hug. "I'm sorry." he murmured into her hair.

She slid her arms around his waist as well, leaning her head into the crook of his shoulder. "Nothing I can do about it now, the best I can do is work past it and move on with my life."

Rex kept hold of the archer for another few minutes, before drawing back and slipping his hands into hers. "Why don't we blow up the rest of those fireworks, yeah?"

Letting out a soft laugh, she nodded. "Yeah, why not, there's still seven left."

Pulling out two, she lit them both before firing them, bringing two bursts of green and white light.

"Can you shoot with your other hand?" Rex asked.

"As in, switch hands?" He nodded. "Um, I don't think I've ever tried, actually." she admitted. It had never occurred to her to attempt such a thing. She was right handed, so why bother shooting with her left?

Switching her grip, she grasped her bow with her right hand, drawing another firework arrow. "This already feels so wrong, I hope I don't blow myself up."

"Yeah, maybe don't do that." Rex chimed.

Lighting the end of it, Kateri pulled back the string, having to fiddle with her grip a bit before releasing it. The arrow flew up into the air without issue, though, still bringing forth red sparks with a sharp pop.

"That's weird, I refuse." she stated, switching hands again. "I don't think I could hit the side of a barn shooting like that." The string also felt more rigid since it was her non-dominant hand pulling it back when her right arm was stronger.

"Nah, I bet you're better than you think." Rex said.

She gave him a flat look. "I wasn't that awkward the first time I ever picked up a bow. I am many things, but ambidextrous is not one of them."

"C'mon, try again, it can't be that different!" Rex urged.

Letting out a sigh, the held the bow in her right hand again, pulling out another arrow, flicking her lighter under the tip. "This is ridiculous."

Drawing back, the fired it towards the stars, then jerked as the string popped her wrist. "Holy shit, that's the first time I've done that in like four years."

The white flash lit up the area, showing a red mark on the side of her wrist and hand. It was fairly small and didn't hurt too much, but she was still surprised that she actually made such a novice mistake.

"What did you do?" he asked, glancing over. "Oh, did the string get you, Miss Archery Snob?"

"Piss off." she grumbled, yanking her sleeve over the mark. "It's not even that bad, it barely touched me."

"Ha! Who's the newbie now?" Rex teased.

"Probably not the one who has good enough aim I can pin you to a wall by your clothes without the arrow touching you at all. Or maybe not the one who can shoot an arrow close enough to your skin that the shaft is touching you, but not leave even a scratch." she suggested dryly.

"...yeah, probably not that one, let me bask in the fact you can mess up sometimes too." Rex grumbled.

"Everyone messes up, I just mess up less with that because it's basically second nature." Kateri walked over next to him, leaning her bow back up against the laurel tree before kneeling down beside the basket. "I also may or may not have a couple of Abuela's churros."

"What? No way, she barely ever makes those!" Rex said, sitting down beside the girl.

She pulled out a little tupperware, peeling off the lid and passing it to him. "I'm not a big fan of sweets, you can have them."

He vaguely remembered, back when he met her in the cafe after being knocked out, her having said the same thing over a piece of peach pie. "No way, you're eating at least one. You've never had a churro like this before."

She glanced skeptically at the pastries in the container, generously coated with sugar and cinnamon. "Um…" she sighed. "Fine."

Taking one out, she flicked off some of the sugar, before taking a bite.

"Well?" Rex said almost immediately.

She shrugged. "It's good, I won't dispute that, but there's way too much sugar on it."

"Nah, that's the best part." Kateri made a face as he picked up another one and bit into it, sugar and cinnamon falling into his lap.

"Yeah, enjoy." she said, placing her own back into the container. Picking through the basket, she pulled out some strawberries.

"Seriously?" Rex deadpanned. "You arrange this little midnight picnic, get ahold of both sopapillas and Abuela's churros, and you go with strawberries?"

"I like strawberries." she shrugged, leaning her side against Rex's shoulder. "Like I said, I'm just not a huge fan of sweet stuff. Except chocolate, you can't go wrong with chocolate. But I'm _that_ asshole who scrapes all the icing off cupcakes and eats them plain, or only eats the Oreo cookie and tosses the filling."

Rex gave her a wide eyed stare as though she'd just admitted to murdering several children. "I'm sorry, but we can't be friends anymore."

"But then who else would be there to bruise your ego and kick your ass on Mortal Kombat?" she smirked.

"Oh come on, you beat me _one time_." he complained.

"That's one more time than you've ever won." she shot back.

"I'm sorry, the monkey is a cheater!" Rex threw his hands up and Kateri let out a laugh. He smiled at the sound, the bubbly ringing noise one that was still fairly rare, but slowly becoming more and more frequent.

Her laughter died off as her eyes flicked up to meet his, the Latino having been watching her with a small smile on his face. "...what?"

"Nothing, just… you have a nice laugh. I don't hear it much." Thank god it was dark, and she couldn't see the blush on his face.

Kateri wasn't really sure what to say in response, since she hadn't ever really had people just handing out compliments to her before. At least not sincere ones or ones where she wasn't undercover and playing a part. "Um, thanks. Guess I never had a reason to before."

That was it. His willpower snapped. How could it not? Did this girl not have the slightest idea what she did to him?

Kateri's eyes widened in shock as the Latino lurched towards her, then fluttered closed a moment later as Rex pressed his lips to hers, his hands clasped over her cheeks as the sweet taste of sugar and cinnamon crept into her mouth. After a moment, her own hands slid around the back of his neck, fingers threading through his hair. Butterflies raced around in a small storm in her stomach when he didn't pull away like he had before, testing the waters to see what she would allow.

It was more than he'd expected, though he really hadn't had any expectations in the first place, but her fingers tightened their grip and her lips parted against his. Hesitantly, one hand moved down to the small of her back, his palm pressing lightly against her.

...or perhaps not as light as he'd thought. He hadn't realized it, but the way she'd been sitting, her body had been slightly twisted and awkwardly balanced on one leg. With the added force, it was enough to bring her toppling forward, clicking thier teeth together and knocking him him back as well.

Rex huffed sharply as her weight fell on top of him, then sputtered a moment later as a clump of her hair got into his mouth.

Kateri moved to lean with an elbow on either side of the Latino, shoving her hair from her face(and in turn, Rex's mouth).

"So, come here often?" Rex asked with a wry grin. A second later they broke into laughter.

"Can't say I do, but I wouldn't mind making it a regular ordeal." Kateri replied, lacing her fingers and leaning her head on his chest.

"We should probably head back at some point." Rex finally said, absently running his fingers through her hair, gently picking out knots he found in the textured strands.

"Yeah, here in a few minutes we should." she replied, sounding somewhat drowsy and not at all making an attempt to actually get up. Well, she couldn't be blamed in the Latino was _really_ warm, and how soothing it was when he played with her hair…

Rex glanced down after a few minutes of silence to see the Navajo girl had actually fallen asleep. The Kateri he knew from first encounter, or even the one from the weeks spent in hotels, would have _never_ let her guard down enough to just fall asleep out in the open like this.

"Yeah, a few more minutes…"

 **Lots of fluff and the return of the hallucinations. I swear the plot will move forward eventually, but I'm honestly just having a lot of fun writing the in between(and also trying to acknowledge that it takes a long time to be remotely okay after PTSD).**

 **Yeh, short notes because it's stupid o'clock and I'm getting ready for work(YAY, ANOTHER 12 HOUR SHIFT!), but please review and tell me what you think!**


	17. It's Complicated

**Yo, check it out, I actually stuck to my schedule! I have reminders set for every two weeks through January, which I hope by then I'd have finished the story behind the scenes and can resume weekly updates but for now it's staying at every two weeks.**

 **Kinda filler, kinda not, but some important conversations are had. I know they may seem wordy, but I use them as a way to try and shed some light on the motives of certain actions. I swear this has a plot in there somewhere, but I really don't want to rush past this part. (more at the bottom)**

 **Also! I'm doing this story for NaNoWriMo(National November Writing Month), with the 50k challenge, so I'm hoping to roll out 50k words for this thing, or 10-12 chapters. Wish me luck!**

 **Enjoy!**

Sunlight hit Kateri's eyelids, rudely yanking her from sleep, and far earlier than she'd have liked. Cracking her eyes open, she drew back out of the path of the beam, pulling the quilt over her head. Wait, quilt? Sitting up, she realized she was in her bed back at Abuela's, but didn't remember how she'd gotten there. She figured Rex must have taken her back last night. Glancing over at the table beside her where her phone lay, noticing a piece of paper folded in half. Reaching over, she grabbed it and unfolded it, seeing surprisingly neat print on it(well, it was nothing too impressive, but she could read it fairly easily, which was more than most boys could say).

 _Kateri,_

 _Brought you back last night after you fell asleep, figured you didn't want to end up with sand everywhere sand shouldn't be. I got called off on a mission early this morning, but I should be back soon, no worries._

 _And I had a really nice time last night. Thanks._

 _-Rex_

Kateri smiled, folding up the note and tucking it into her backpack. Running a hand through her hair, she quickly remembered that she'd put it in a half braid last night, and sleeping with it in had been a _mistake_. Sighing, she picked the hair tie out of her hair before attempting to untangle as much of it as she could before yanking through the rest with her hairbrush. Quickly twining all of it into a normal braid, she got dressed, remembering she was supposed to help with breakfast that morning and was already a little late.

The sun was already low in the sky despite it almost being seven in the morning. She was supposed to be in the kitchen at six forty five, and hoped that she wouldn't be in too much trouble for being late.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I overslept a little." she said as soon as she'd pushed open the door. There were a few people bustling around with bowls of various foods.

"No problem, most late first time for breakfast." said an older woman nearby, her accent heavy and her English broken. If Kateri remembered correctly, her name was Marianne and she'd been at Abuela's for fifteen years. The archer had offered to speak to her in Spanish if it was easier, but Marianne had politely declined, saying she'd rather practice her English. "Here, you cut onion for egg, yes?"

Kateri reached out and took the large bowl of peeled onions. "Sure thing. Is there somewhere you want me to go?"

"Just open space on counter. Here knife." She slid a knife with a weathered wooden handle into the bowl before turning back to the massive pan of...something, on the stove.

Kateri turned and scanned the kitchen in search for an empty space, spotting a gap on the counter between the sink and the oven. Carrying over the bowl, she washed her hands and set to work on cutting the vegetable.

"Here." An arm snaked around her side and set down a ceramic mug of coffee on the counter beside her, the owner of the arm moving to stand beside her. A short girl with black hair wrapped up in a large bun, brown eyes, and skin that was rather fair in comparison to the others there. "Hi, I'm Acacia. You're Rex's friend, Kateri right?"

"Yeah, nice to meet you." Kateri held out her hand, which Acacia shook. "Is that coffee?"

"Sure is, you looked like you needed it." she replied. "Sorry if it's a little strong. I normally put cream and sugar in it but I think Rex said you weren't big on sweets."

"No, this is perfect." the archer said, taking a long drink. It wasn't as strong as the pyro's had been, but it had always been just a hint too strong for her tastes anyways. "Thanks."

"No problem." She turned at the sound of Marianne speaking in rapid fire Spanish, faster that Kateri was fully able to keep up with. Something about finishing the rest of the tortillas. "Y _o estaré allí en un minuto, abuela, estoy hablando con la chica nueva!"_

" _Rápidamente, todavía hay mucho trabajo por hacer."_ Marianne replied, returning to the big pan of, what the archer now saw was, rice in front of her.

"Oops, slacking a little I guess" Acacia said with a sheepish grin.

"It's fine." she said. "Did you say she's your grandmother?"

"Marianne? Yeah, she practically raised me." she replied with a smile. "You speak Spanish?"

"Not perfect but I can keep up a conversation." she replied.

Acacia stepped away for a moment before returning with a tray covered in little balls of dough. "Mind if I share the space a bit? I just need enough room for the tray."

"Sure thing." Kateri slid the bowl over a bit before resuming her cutting. She watched as the short girl would pick up the little balls, flattening them a bit before tossing them back and forth between her hands to make it thin, then drop it onto the, apparently hot, surface of the oven, flipping and moving the tortillas with her bare hands. "Do you ever burn yourself?"

"Not really." she shrugged. "I did a couple times at first, but if you work fast, it shouldn't burn you." She tossed a hot, golden brown tortilla onto the tray, covering a few of the balls of dough in flour. She fished them out, moving them to the side before continuing.

"Cool, so I'd probably only lose half the skin on my hands before I figured it out." Having spent several years living alone, Kateri wasn't the worst cook in the world by any means, but she was hardly a five star chef, either. When she cooked, she tended to stick to fairly safe things, like grilled cheese or omelets. She was however, pretty fantastic at making Ramen and oven baked dinners.

Acacia laughed. "Nah, really, it's not hard, seriously."

"I'll take your word for it." Kateri rubbed at her eyes carefully with the back of her hand, the fumes from the onions beginning to make them burn and water. "Ugh, I'm pretty sure my corneas are burning off."

Another laugh. "It might be Grandma's low key way of getting revenge on you for being late."

Kateri groaned. "I knew I should've set an alarm. I usually don't need them, I have this sort of internal clock when I know I need to get up."

"Might be a good idea, just in case."

The archer nodded. "Yeah, I guess setting off those fireworks fried my brain or something."

"That was you?" Acacia glanced over at her. "We could see them from here, everyone was wondering who that was."

"Yeah, that was me. Well, us, Rex was there too." she said.

"Ooh, really?" the smaller girl gave a sly grin. "What were you two doing?"

Kateri's face turned bright red. "Nothing like that! I've just...had a lot of stuff going on and he's helped a lot with it, so I wanted to do something nice in return."

"Mhm, sure."

"Acacia!" Kateri near whined. "Seriously, get your mind out of the trashcan!"

"But I don't want to be homeless." she shot back, breaking into giggles. Kateri's laughter joined a moment later. "Really though, I'm just messing with you. It's good you're getting help."

"Yeah. It's kinda sucked shit, but it's also kinda nice to know you can finally put all those awful things behind you." she agreed, dumping bits of onion into the bowl before grabbing another one and beginning to chop it as well. "Enough of this depressing bullshit, I'm supposed to be putting that behind me. So, how much complaining did Mauricio do while I was gone?"

"Ugh, too much." Acacia mumbled. "I'm not sure which was worse; having to listen to his ego hit the moon every time someone tried to break his record and couldn't or hearing him bitch and moan that it was broken by the new girl."

"Should I be offended by the new part or the girl part?" Kateri asked wryly.

"Probably both." Acacia laughed. "He's kinda got a superiority complex under his belt."

"Yep, met plenty of those." Kateri nodded, scraping the last of the onion into the bowl. "Oh thank god, that's the last of it."

"Ah ah…" Marianne held up another bowl, this one filled with peppers. Kateri let out a soft groan.

"Hey, at least it's not onions again." Acacia grinned.

The archer let out another groan.

(*)

Rex let out a sharp grunt as he was thrown into the side of a building, his head smacking painfully against the brick as they cracked upon impact. His body slid down the wall, the dual axes crumbling as well and falling into a heap around the dazed teen. Ugh, he was gonna be feeling _that_ later.

"C'mon, Chief, up and at 'em." Bobo rumbled, hopping down beside him.

"Yeh, just...gimme 'minute." he mumbled, rubbing the quickly forming knot of the back of his head and blinking to clear his slightly fuzzy vision.

'Sixty, fifty nine, fifty eight…" the EVO primate began counting down as he moved towards the attacking EVO once again.

"Haha, very funny." he grumbled, hauling himself to his feet and pushing the ache in his head to the back of his mind. He could deal with it later. The massive orange Punk Busters** took shape beneath his feet, lifting him off the ground several feet and allowing him to leap several more stories into the air, one arm turning into his sword halfway up.

"Twenty six seconds to spare." Bobo announced over the rapid fire blasts of his red lasers.

"Yeah, yeah, just shut up and knock it down so I can cure it." the Latino shot back.

"Somebody's awfully eager to get back to his girlfriend." the monkey teased.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Rex immediately shot back, swinging the sword, but was parried back by a massive spike that was where an arm might have been. "I mean, kind of, maybe, but...not...ugh, my head hurts."

"Might wanna get that checked out. Denial ain't just a river." the primate smirked, leaping forward again. Rex rolled his eyes and followed after him a few seconds later.

Several more minutes of swinging, dodging, and harassing banter, Rex finally was able to cure the EVO, finding it had been no more than a stray cat. "All that over one little kitty." He said, watching the creature run off.

"How it goes." Bobo commented, sliding the guns into the holsters on his back. "C'mon, better hurry, you're lady is waiting."

"She's not my lady!" the Latino hissed. _Or, was she…?_ He shook his head. He knew walking into this that there was going to be a degree of uncertainty between him and Kateri for a while, and he was okay with that. Her reasons were completely fair and she was allowing his help and support. Best not push the issue beyond what he had to or dwell on answers he couldn't get for a while.

The twin propellers expanded from his back and he grabbed Bobo rather unceremoniously by the collar of his shirt, hauling the EVO up to where the jump jet hovered in wait. The simian griped for a few seconds about being hauled around like a sack of flour, but a brief comment from Rex how he could always just let the monkey go if he would rather find another ride. A glance down from the height they were already at brought silence the rest of the way up.

"Damage to a minimum, I'd say job well done." Holiday stated as he flopped into one of the seats lining the jet.

"Why is the success of the mission always based off how much stuff I break?" Rex complained.

"Well, if you'd like to start handling the complaints from the people with property damage, or better yet cover the expenses, you might get some sort of clue." Holiday gave him a pointed look.

Rex slunk down in his seat a bit, eyes flicking to the floor. He knew that the more public side of Providence that dealt with the civilian backlash was _definitely_ not his biggest fan. "It's not always my fault, you know. I can't control what the EVOs do."

"I know, Rex, but we both know you can be a little reckless yourself." Holiday said gently.

Rex chose to remain quiet on that one. There wasn't much he could say without digging his grave there.

Six came through the open bay doors a moment later, his feet locked onto a hoverboard. Clicking a button with his heel, the board moved to attach to the undercarriage of the jump jet after the green suited man hopped off. With only a curt nod to Rex, he walked through the cabin into the cockpit. Rex let out a yawn, shifting to get more comfortable in the seat. Since it had been pretty late by the time he'd gotten back, he hadn't gotten too much sleep.

Holiday slid the clipboard in her hand into a slot on the wall, approaching the Latino and bucking in beside him, the ship giving a light shudder as Six took over for manual flight. "So, how've things been going at Abuela's?"

Rex perked a bit at the question. Holiday hadn't been in much contact with neither him nor Kateri, allowing them to just enjoy their time. Usually she'd only call Rex for help with EVOs, otherwise leaving them alone. "Pretty well, actually. My brother heads back tomorrow, but he's been having fun getting to see everyone. Kinda nice to just hang out with everyone without there being some threat hanging over all the time."

"I'm sure, I think it's good to get away sometimes." she agreed. "How about Kateri? Is she doing any better?"

"Yeah, I think she is." he said, a soft smile crossing his lips. "She's a lot more relaxed there, less uptight about everything. People aren't treating her like a science experiment or some kind of freak and I think she likes it. The other day we went swimming and she was really worried about all the scars on her back, but once I told her about the whole EVO situation from a few years back and how no one cared about mine, it didn't seem to bother her as much. I think she really appreciates how they make her feel so...normal."

Holiday smiled at his words. "That's great, I'm glad to hear it's working out." This is exactly what everyone had been hoping for, and she couldn't be more thrilled that it had worked in their favor. "What about your training? Are you both keeping up with it."

She suppressed a grin at the roll of his chocolate brown eyes. " _Yes_ Doc, we're keeping up with our training." he grumbled. C'mon, he wasn't _that_ irresponsible. Even though Kateri was the one who reminded him to do it pretty frequently, he actually would rarely complain and stuck to the routine pretty well(good job Rex, have a nice pat on the back). "Not gonna lie, it's a nice change of pace to not get my butt handed to me every time we spar. I mean, Kateri's a great fighter and sometimes she still beats me, but Six has been my mentor for almost ten years. He's a good teacher, but getting knocked on the floor gets old."

Holiday let out a chuckle. "I'm sure a more level playing field is nice."

Rex's cheeks took on a slight pink tinge. Kateri could make that playing field _very_ uneven if she wanted to. Not that she often did, but there had still been a few times where his emotions go the better of him and Kateri had him pinned. "Y-Yeah."

Holiday gave a chuckle at his blush before continuing, trying to keep the conversation light. "So, has anything interesting happened since you've been there? Caesar told me Abuela was going easy on the chores for you two for a few days, and you mentioned swimming earlier."

His thoughts flicked back to the previous night, but he didn't say anything about that quite yet. "Yeah, she broke one of the other kid's record for the most flips in one jump. He was _so_ pissed, you should've seen how mad he was that some girl shows up and tops his score."

"Oh really? I'm sorry I missed it."

"Yeah, although I'm pretty sure he knows that he knows it's because she's got some kind of training." His eyes flicked to the side. "I've kinda listened around and I do hear some of them talking about her. Not necessarily in a bad way, but they know she's not just some civilian. No one's made fun of her scars, god help them if they do." The latter of the sentence was mumbled under his breath. "But they know something's different about her, that she's been through something. Pretty sure most people are assuming she's part of Providence too, like me."

Holiday nodded. "Not an unreasonable assumption to make. Besides, most of them have been through their share of less than ordinary things, which I'm sure has no small part in their open-mindedness. But it's good to hear she's feeling more accepted."

"Yeah." He nodded in agreement.

"What about you?" Holiday asked, bringing his gaze up in questioning. "I know you didn't walk away from that lab without a scratch, mental or physical. You were having nightmares too, and you've showed signs of trauma yourself. Not to the extent she did, but it was definitely there. You're just as much a priority as she is."

His chest grew warm at her words. "I'm doing alright, I guess. Not gonna lie, I haven't been focusing on me that much, which is probably understandable. I know Kateri worries about me, though, and she knows I talk to you, so she tends to leave it alone for the most part, but I can tell. Anytime she brings something up and I know just a little too well what she means, or days I'm a little tired because I couldn't sleep." Something that had begun to happen more frequently. He'd always had problems with nightmares. They weren't a nightly occurrence, still weren't, but they _had_ become more frequent. Holiday knew this too, Rex didn't hide much from her. He didn't see the point, since she could often help him, or at the very least had someone to talk to about it.

Ever since the whole Jessup Incident, as he'd begun to call it in his mind, he'd started having nightmares about the archer. They weren't something completely unexpected, he'd had them before with Circe, even if less frequently. The mind worked in twisted ways, and for people who worked in a place like Providence, it often came in the form of watching people you cared about harmed in more ways most would care to imagine. He knew he was definitely in the majority with the frequent night terrors, most of the active foot soldiers had similar issues, and he'd experienced them for years with Six and Holiday previous to that.

But, despite the cliche of it, it was different with the archer. Even if his emotions didn't come into play, his dreams around her would be extraordinarily...graphic. He was guilty of slipping out of his room and into hers for a few minutes, just to check on her for his own peace of mind. More than once he'd just found himself watching her sleep, just knowing that she was completely safe only a few feet away from him being one of the most reassuring things in the world.

"But then again, I'm only one person, and I have my limits. I know that, and so does she. We both put on an act for each other, because neither one wants to make it worse for the other, you know? And we both have our moments, like when she gets dizzy in training and I panic and jump to the wrong conclusion, or when she's got some crazy vitamin imbalances going on and is delusional. We're not perfect, but we gotta do what we can to help each other, right?" He sighed, taking a breath. "I just can't shake the feeling that she's right. We've gotten past the biggest jump, but we're still waiting for the backlash and we're just sitting in the eye of the storm. But what are we waiting for?"

Holiday put a hand on his shoulder. "I think you'll do what's right when the time calls for it. You can be a little reckless at times, but you've got a good head on your shoulders, Rex. What's it telling you?"

He paused at her words, actually taking a long moment to think them over.

What was it telling him? That despite every logical thought saying the opposite, he couldn't help but wonder if she was right? Bad luck had a nasty habit of rearing it's ugly head around him, just when things were finally going well, he was hit with something else.

His thoughts flashed back to those weeks he spent by Kateri's bedside while she was unconscious, watching the slow progress of her wounds healing or how his hopes would soar every time she twitched or hummed thinking she was finally awake. He also remembered the absolute terror that wracked his body every time her pulse flatlined, or every time it took just a bit too long to revive her. The times he was dry heaving over a trashcan in the middle of the night at the mere thought that she'd gotten through so much, only to meet an insipid end in a cold ICU cot. He'd always known he had a tendency to get too emotionally attached to those around him, but he wouldn't give it up for the world. It kept him grounded, it kept him sane. It helped remind him that he was still _human_. It kept that little voice in the back of his head talking, telling him that the right thing to do and the thing he was told to do could be very different things, but to go with his instincts.

Those instincts had never let him down before, so what were they saying now?

"It's telling me I should be careful. Don't get sloppy. Just because we cut the head off the Chimera, doesn't mean we don't still have the tail to worry about." he finally said. "I don't know anything for sure, but I can't deny the possibility that there could still be people from Jessup out there that'll come for us, come for _her_."

"Then don't. Keep up your training, watch your backs. But don't let it take over. Despite how everyone else may treat you, both of you are still just kids. It's okay to let yourself act like it once in awhile. Go out, have fun, because you might find out that you missed a chance later on." Holiday said with a smile.

A small smile passed over his own lips. "Yeah. Actually, last night, we did do something else. Just out of curiosity, do you know how far Kateri's engineering skills go?"

Holiday seemed thrown, the question a bit random. "Um, I know she took a few classes online for it. No kind of degree, but she's got a fairly good grasp of the basics. What does this have to do about last night?"

"Well, I don't really want to call it a date, but that's the best word for it. It's kinda…"

"Complicated?" Holiday finished. She was well aware of the awkward standstill between the Navajo girl and Rex, but it didn't seem to be doing either of them harm, so she left it alone.

"Yeah. I guess it was a midnight picnic of sorts. Fizzy grape juice, sopapillas, the works. Like, the good stuff, but she literally picked strawberries." He lightly shook his head. "Anyways, that wasn't even the cool part. She'd made these little firework things attached to some wood sticks, so she could shoot them with her bow. It was really cool, I wish you could've seen it. She even showed me how to shoot a few."

"Sounds like you two had quite an evening."

His ears burned once again as he remembered the conclusion of said evening. "Yeah, it was...really nice. Probably one of the nicest things someone's ever done for me just out of the blue like that."

"Well, I'm glad you two had fun." She paused as Rex yawned again. "You're looking at a good couple hours before we get back to Abuela's. Why don't you get some sleep in the meantime?"

"I'm thinking that's the best idea I've heard today." he replied, shrugging off his jacket and shoving it behind his head, tugging his goggles to hang around his neck.

Within a few minutes, he managed to drift off into a dreamless sleep.

**These names are so cringey, oh my god I hate using them. I know a 16 year old named them, but come on. Some of them I can put up with, but a few I just won't use.

 **Okay, explanation time.**

 **I've learned firsthand just how hard it is to learn to deal with PTSD and what a long and grueling process it is to be able to function normally. Though it may seem slow and boring, on a realistic scale it's extremely important as far as how her behavior would be for the remainder of the story and I don't want to end up completely changing the person she is so I'm taking my time to give her a chance to heal some.**

 **I'm not going to let it get unbearably boring, but I will say the plot itself will be at a standstill for about five or so more chapters(as in, the next time shit hits the fan). It's not all cutesy stuff and fluff, but I'm trying to pack as much into a short time frame as I can to keep the psychology plausible, but keep people interested too. There's a few time skips as well(not more than a few days, but just for the sake of not dragging this on and on), but there really is more to this than a monitored therapy vacation.**

 **Thank you for reading and I'll see y'all in a couple weeks!**


	18. In Sickness And In Health

**I'm not too late this time, only two days, which is not bad considering my rap sheet for late chapters *side eyes to the RotG story I haven't updated in like 2 years*. I'm not super pleased with this one, the first half of the chapter feels super rushed and stunted, but I've reread/written it countless times and I can't seem to make it any better, but it is what it is.**

 **But yeah, I DO have a chapter! Hope y'all enjoy, and I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving!**

Oh god, he wished he had a camera.

He really didn't have much of an expectation of how he'd find Kateri, but surrounded by three children trying to play with her bow, her hair, her necklace, anything they could get their tiny little hands on, was not one of them. She seemed to be trying her best, but there was an undeniable element of panic on her face as she tried to figure out what to do.

"Hey, be careful with that, those are sharp-ah, don't pull my hair! No, don't put that in your mouth, it's jewelry, not a toy." Glancing up, she saw Rex leaning against the archway with a bemused expression. "How long have you been standing there watching me struggle?"

"Not long enough, please continue." he replied with a grin.

Her eyes narrowed and she had to bite back a snappy reply. Swearing in front of children was normally frowned upon. "Seriously? You're just gonna watch me suffer."

"Pretty much."

"I promise I'll make sure you regret that later." she hissed, flinching as another tiny hand yanked a fistful of her hair. "Okay, that's enough, the next one to touch my hair is gonna get thrown in the lake and fed to the lake monster!"

"There's a lake monster?" One of them squealed, eyes popping open.

"Yes, and it likes to eat naughty little children who pull hair and play with things they're not supposed to." she said, sending a pointed look at the little boy who'd pulled a couple of arrows out of her quiver to play with the colored fletches. Thank _god_ the tips were still inside the tube, having only been pulled out far enough for him to play with the feathers.

"No, don't feed me to the lake monster!" he cried, dropping the arrow and scurrying back.

Standing up, she unwrapped the little girl from her back, who'd been attempting to braid her hair after pulling it free from the one it had already been in, with almost no success since she didn't know how. "Alright, I think it's time for the kids to go find their parents, before the lake monster comes to find you!"

More little squeals of terror came as they raced off.

"Oh my god, how do people _want_ those, and in multiples? I can't handle them for twenty minutes!" she groaned, trying to remove the tangles in her hair with her fingers.

"I don't know, but you seemed to be doing alright." Rex smirked. "Lake monster?"

"It was the only thing I could think of." she grumbled, giving up after a few moment and just leaving it down. "Ugh, I was just about to go shoot and I swear they appeared out of nowhere. I was attacked."

Rex chuckled. "Well, they seem to like you. Do you not want kids, or something?" She raised an eyebrow at him and the awkward nature of the question hit him. "I mean, I'm just curious, you don't have to answer or anything..."

"It's fine, it just caught me off guard." Sliding the arrows back into her quiver, she slid it back around her shoulder. "Honestly, I don't think I do. I've seen a lot of the horrors this world has to offer, experienced firsthand what a lot of people are willing to do to children, and I just can't be responsible for bringing one into it. There's already so many neglected ones as it is, why do I need to create another?"

"You don't think you wouldn't protect them from those things?" he asked.

She shrugged. "My parents couldn't. I know that sounds harsh, and I'm not saying they were bad parents, no. They were great parents, but even giving all they had still wasn't enough to protect me, or even themselves. Some things are stronger than us, and after everything I've been through, I don't think I could handle knowing that something happened to them and I couldn't stop it."

He was quiet for a minute, thinking over her words. He hadn't put much thought into it himself, but did know that, one day, if he left Providence and the world wasn't in some constant state of terror, he wouldn't mind having a family. But, from Kateri's perspective, now he wasn't as sure, because she _did_ have a point. No matter how strong you were, there would always be someone or something that was stronger. The only thing you could really do was hope you were strong _enough_ when the situation called for it.

The clocktower let out a chime, signaling it was eleven o'clock.

"Lunch time's in an hour." Kateri said, even though he knew it. "You brother leaves afterwards, so if you wanna talk to him, now's your chance. I'll be around back practicing."

He watched her go, pulling her hair up into a low ponytail as she walked instead of the braid he was used to seeing.

That girl was going to be the death of him.

(*)

"Hey, Caesar, you in here?" Rex called, walking into the room they shared.

"Over here." the elder Salazar called, the door connecting the room to Kateri's open. Walking through, Rex saw him messing around with the device that'd gone haywire their first morning there, the one that was supposed to negate the signal of Kateri's nanites when she slept to keep them from shocking her. "I think I've finally gotten this thing working and I wanted to set it up before I left to see if it helps."

"Really? That's great. If it works, I'm pretty sure Kateri would throw you a parade." Rex said as he hovered over his brother's shoulder. "She said you're leaving after lunch."

He nodded. "Yes. It's been nice to stay here for a while and see everyone, but I have work to do and mine doesn't travel as easily as yours does." Caesar worked mainly in the lab, whereas Rex just needed his phone so he knew where to go, his machines doing the rest. Stepping back, Caesar flicked a switch on the device and a small red light came on. "That should do it. It works within about a 15 foot radius, so it only would be effective when she's in the room, and I can't guarantee it will work like I'm hoping it will. Due to the nature of her nanites, it's been challenging to pin down the exact wavelength they run on, but I have it on a fluctuating range within the general margin of it, so it should be hitting it a good 65% of the time. It's on a solar recharge, so make sure she keeps the window open during the day."

Rex nodded, following him out. As they made their way towards the middle of the grounds where meals typically were, he saw Kateri coming in from a doorway across the yard, a couple children running towards her. He saw that look of panic flicker over her face again, saying something quickly that got the children running back to the tables, but with grins on their faces.

"What'd you tell them this time?" Rex asked with a crooked grin as she approached.

She shrugged. "That I fought off the lake monster, but they had to be good and sit down for it to stay away. Since I'm technically carrying weapons, they believed me and left."

Rex shook his head. "You're terrible."

"No, I'm resourceful, there's a difference."

"Whatever. C'mon, it's chile rellenos today, I hope you like spicy." he said.

"You kidding? My mom used to use these fancy ghost pepper flakes in place of actual pepper." Katri scoffed. "I didn't get a choice in liking spicy."

"So you like it?" he asked.

Grinning, she pushed his with her shoulder. "Yeah, I like spicy. I have a pretty high threshold for it after more than a few mishaps with how much of that pepper was used, but I'm not a huge fan of feeling like I just ate the sun. But spicy is fine."

"So, you like spicy, but you don't like sweets. I have a lot of conflict over that." he said, tugging out a chair for the archer. She hung her equipment on the back of it, having forgotten to drop it off in her room, before sitting down and allowing him to push the chair in. She'd protested him doing this a bit the first time he did it, but quickly caved and just let him do it. He was making an effort to be a gentleman, and honestly, who was she to stop him?

"I know, you remind me every time I turn around about the fact I picked strawberries over sopapillas and churros." she said, throwing him a playful glance as he sat down beside her. "And I _did_ eat a few of the sopapillas, you know."

"Yeah, after knocking off all the sugar and refusing to put honey on them, which should be illegal." he huffed. "Seriously, that's taking the best part off."

She just shrugged. "I march to my own beat."

"That you do." he said, although he wasn't entirely sure she heard him. Caesar, who normally sat to Rex's other side, sat by the archer instead. Rex could hear him telling her about the contraption he'd left in her room, explaining what it did and the gist of how it worked so she had some idea how to operate it.

"It's not exactly flawless, and it _is_ untested, but I assure you it's perfectly safe and in _theory_ should work, but there's always a margin for error." he finished.

"No, no, I appreciate it, I really do. Even if it only works a little, I'm better off than I was before." she said, grateful.

"If I can nail down exactly what frequency they run on, I could make something smaller and more portable, like a cuff, so it's constant. It isn't really reversing the problem, but it would be a temporary solution until a more permanent one is found."

Her eyes widened. "Y-You could do that?"

Caesar gave a light shrug. "I'm hoping, once I can figure out exactly what signal to put out to negate yours. It's an interesting challenge and one I don't plan to let best me."

Her eyes flicked over to Rex, hesitant hope filling the soft green of her gaze. "Is he serious?"

Rex nodded. "Far as I know, my brother has never met a problem he couldn't solve, and if Doc's on his side there's no way they don't figure it out."

"I can get my life back." she breathed.

"Not to burst your bubble, but I can't put a guarantee on anything." Caesar cut in. "Do I think I'll find a solution? Yes, eventually, but there's no telling how long it can take. I've never encountered anything quite like your situation, where your nanites were essentially reprogrammed. They attack almost anything mechanical they come in contact with and disable it making them almost impossible to scan or get a read on to see the actual source of the issue. But I have no plans to give up on it and I _will_ find a solution."

Taking a breath, Kateri quelled her quickly rising hopes. If she got ahead of herself it would only be more disappointment later. "Right, of course. Thank you, any little thing helps. Honestly, I wouldn't give a damn one way or another if they didn't shock the shit out of me. But it could be worse."

With that, the conversation ended as dishes were being passed around.

(*)

Kateri squinted her eyes as the thrusters of Caesar's ship kicked up a small cloud of sand, holding one hand in front of her face as she watched the odd craft rise into the air. His farewell party wasn't nearly as large as the welcoming one, only a handful of people there to bid him a safe trip before quickly dispersing. It wasn't long before she and Rex were the only ones left there.

"So I guess it's just us now." the Latino stated.

"Looks like it." she nodded. "I'm supposed to help with dinner and I think you are too, actually, but we still have a few hours to burn."

Rex eyes seemed to spark with a reserved sort of excitement, which struck her as odd. "Good, because there's actually something I want to show you, or try anyways."

She gave him a curious look. "Uh, care to tell me what it is, since I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it has to do with me."

"I want to try to talk to your nanites again. Before you start saying no, hear me out." he said quickly, seeing the expression on her face. "Caesar said that, basically, your nanites have been reprogrammed entirely, but from what you said, it was from a signal, not direct reprogramming. If I can figure out how it happened the first time, there's a chance I could reverse it." Hesitation crept onto his face. "Right now, what I'm wanting to try, shouldn't hurt you, but if I try to mess with the programming, it probably will, since it did when it happened the first time."

"I don't care." she replied. "Pain is pain, it won't last forever and it's worth it if I can get rid of this shocking bullshit. In case you forgot, which I doubt, I could still be turned into some freak show puppet because of this. I'll live."

The best word for how Rex was feeling was uncomfortable. Yes, of course he wanted this mess with her nanites to be over, but that didn't mean he was too fond of having to hurt her to do it. Every single time it had happened before ended with her almost blacking out, and he didn't exactly want to be the _cause_ of that.

"Alright, well...we've figured out that it has to have some kind of signal, right? So there's remote access?" he began.

"Something like that." she nodded. "Are you going to try to tap into the signal or something?"

"Or something. Honestly, I'm not completely sure about the details of how it works, it was my brother's idea." he admitted. "I've talked to nanites before, so I'm gonna see if maybe I can make mine put off a signal too and get them to interact? Yours always seem to attack anything that comes into contact with you, at least things that are meant to interact with nanites, but maybe if there's nothing but a signal for them to interact with…?" He scratched the back of his head. "It's all super sciencey, but all I really care about is it could be a way to get some information without hurting you."

"That would be...amazing, honestly." she murmured, absently rubbing her hands together. After a few seconds, a few lines of static sparked between her fingers, staying connected for a few seconds with a light tingle before dissipating. "You know, it honestly isn't even the physical aspect that bothers me anymore, not often. It's really just a nuisance now, save for all my shit staying charged. I hate to say it, but to some degree, I live in fear over the fact that, someone out there actually has the ability to, for lack of better phrasing, take over my body. Make me a puppet." She let a light shudder run over her body. "I've given my life to keeping the people I care about safe, being loyal to a fault. Just the thought that all someone has to do is press a button to make me a slave like that, force me to turn of people who trust me to keep them safe...it makes me sick."

If it got to the point where she was captured and made into one of those remote controlled EVOs, she'd take _whatever_ means necessary to keep from hurting anyone, regardless of what it meant for her. She didn't tell Rex that, however.

"Which is why we're going to fix it." he said firmly, and the Native American girl wondered where he could find such confidence.

"Yeah...but not right now." She glanced up into his questioning eyes. "Just...it's a nice day, and I don't want to destroy the peace while I still have it. Even just one more day, it's nice to not have so much stress." She sighed and ran a hand through the bangs that weren't ensnared in her ponytail, now falling down past her eyes since they hadn't been trimmed in months. Even if just for one more day, she wanted to pretend that everything was fine, that this warm, sunny place was truly as safe as it felt. That this was truly something as simple as a vacation from a job, with someone she trusted(she refused to let herself put any kind of label on them yet). She'd given up the notion of feeling normal, which didn't bother her as much as she'd expected, but the constant feeling of having to look over her shoulder was eating away at the girl. She was more free than she'd been in years, yet she'd never felt like such a prisoner, and to her own fear at that.

After a moment, he nodded. The small village was having the very effect on her he'd hoped it would, and his brother's theory could wait one more day. "Alright. Tomorrow then. So, what do you want to do in the meantime?"

She shrugged. "I don't really care. What do _you_ want to do? You always make everything about me, regardless of how much I wish you didn't, so why don't we do what you want to do?"

A small smile appeared on his face. "I think I have an idea." Bright blue disks expanded under his feet until the hoverboard took shape. "Kinda curious what's on the other side of those mountains. Care to join me? We'll have plenty of time." He held out his hand.

With a smile of her own, Kateri let her fingers twine through the Latinos as she allowed herself to be hoisted onto the board.

She also didn't comment when he didn't let her hand go.

(*)

With a soft groan, Kateri collapsed forward onto her bed. Her hair, now loose from the ponytail, strewed everywhere, pooling around her head and neck and over her back, burying her face in the thick black mane.

Turns out, on the other side of those mountains and another few miles out, it was the ocean. Kateri hadn't realized just how close to the coast they had been and the beach they'd found had been pretty much abandoned save for a few beached jellyfish. It wasn't exactly the picturesque beach you saw on postcards, by any means. Most of the sand was rough and gritty, filled with tiny pebbles and bits of broken shells, the edges worn smooth. Bits of seaweed and driftwood littered the beach as well, carried in from the tide.

The water was very warm, sort of like lukewarm bathwater by the shore and their lack of swimsuits kept them from wandering too far into the low waves. However, that didn't stop them both from getting completely soaked. Both of their electronics and shoes had been left with Rex's jacket higher up on the beach, but the rest of their clothing ended up completely drenched and dotted with bits of kelp after a couple of splash fights that ended in them flinging soggy sea grass at on another.

They dried off fairly well on the trip back, though, with the combination of the heat and the fast wind, each one promptly showering to get rid of the dried of salt and remaining sand, ending up only a few minutes late to dinner preparations. Kateri had actually eaten a decently large sized meal that night, too, which had been a somewhat rare occurrence since arriving. Though she _did_ eat at every meal, it was rare she would consume a full portion.

But now, it was about twenty minutes after ten at night, and she found herself much more exhausted than usual, hoping she'd get a better night's sleep than what was her norm.

Dragging herself upright, she quickly yanked a brush through her hair and slipped into a soft T-shirt and a pair of thin leggings before dropping rather unceremoniously back onto the bed, not bothering to get under the covers as she settled onto the pillow.

She drifted to sleep fairly easily, but it was short lived. Within a few hours, at around two in the morning, she was woken up. But not by any kind of sound or exterior disturbance. No, it was from the massive wave of nausea that hit her like a typhoon. Eye popping open she lurched out of bed and swayed for a moment, her equilibrium about as stable as an elephant standing on a pin, before stumbling out her door and down the short hall to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, she was leaning her flush body against the cool mortar wall, deciding it would be a long time before she ate chile rellenos again, because they didn't exactly taste as good on the trip back up. Nudging her sweaty bangs from her face, she stood on unsteady, but stable, feet and splashed cold water on her face before wrapping her hair up in a sloppy bun to keep it from clinging to her sticky skin.

"Well this is already shaping up to be a great day." she murmured softly, studying her reflection in the mirror. The room wasn't very well lit, the one frosted window dark and the small fluorescent light not offering much, but it was enough for her to see the way her skin was blanched of color, making it seem pale despite her tanned complexion.

Cupping her hands beneath the stream, she swished a mouthful of water around before spitting it out to at least try and get the sharp bitterness out of her mouth. Turning off the faucet, she left the room and made her way back to her bedroom.

She put the small wastebasket beside her bed before slipping back underneath the quilt, just in case she got sick again. Taking a long drink from the water bottle in her backpack, careful not to touch her mouth to the rim, she settled back under the blanket, curling up as a chill that hadn't been there before settled over her body, managing to fall back into a fitful sleep.

The next morning, she slept right through the alarm on her phone, which was almost unheard of for her, to the point it woke Rex and he came into her room to wake the girl so she would turn it off.

Reaching out and lightly shaking her shoulder, he spoke groggily. "Urrhn, Kateri...you're alarm's going off...Kateri!"

She jumped, the Latino hearing a sharp breath before one of her arms swung up and smacked across his chest, shoving him onto the mattress as she pinned his arm behind his back. Honestly, he'd expected something of the sort to happen, it always did when he woke her up, so he didn't even try to resist. A few seconds later, her hold relaxed and she released him.

"Sorry…" she hummed, sounding only just so as she fumbled to turn off her alarm.

"It's fine." he replied, letting out a long yawn. Glancing at her, he realized she looked...off. She sat with her arms around her legs and she looked like she hadn't slept in weeks despite having been fast asleep only a few minutes ago. He had also noticed that her movements had seemed clumsy before, which struck him as odd. "Are you alright? You seem tired."

"Something like that. I got a little sick last night, but I'm fine." she said, waving off his concern, but he wasn't about to let it go that easily.

"Just like you were fine when you could barely shower without getting shocked?" he asked critically, leaning forward and taking her face in his hands, holding his palms to her cheeks, then moving one to her forehead. The Native American girl's skin was clammy to the touch and much warmer than it should have been. He also took note of the trashcan she'd put beside her bed. "You have a fever, for sure, and you said you got sick?"

"Rex, it's fine, it's probably just a cold." she protested.

"Most people don't throw up when they have a cold." he pointed out. "Actually, when was the last time you got a flu shot? It's technically flu season, even though it's warm, so there's a good chance that's what that is."

"Uh…" she paused and thought about it a moment. "Pretty sure my mom was the one who took me to get my last one, if that's any clue."

"I'm almost impressed by how irresponsible that is, even _I_ keep up with my flu shots." he stated. Of course, not because he actually went and got them, no. If you thought something as simple as a flu shot would slip Rebecca Holiday's mind, you are quite mistaken.

"Still, I'll be fine. I've put up with worse, it's nothing." she tried to argue. She'd had low grade pneumonia once before and still done her missions after downing a fair amount of cough syrup and drinking a lot of water. Probably not something she should tell Rex, but knowing she'd done it made her current situation seem far less severe.

"Uh, no. First off all, a lot of your chores are helping with meals and you don't want to get anyone else sick too. Second, pushing yourself is only gonna make it worse. You don't actually _have_ to just push through, so don't. Just let yourself take it easy and get better, no one's gonna think badly if you don't walk around sick as hell and pretend you're not. It happens."

She made an unintelligible disgruntled noise, but didn't argue with him. "So what exactly are you wanting me to do, MD Rex?"

"...that was a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be." he said under his breath. "Uh, just don't try and strain yourself. Drink a lot of water and just rest up. We'll cut back on training to just the easy stuff and I'll let Abuela know so you're not fixing anyone's food. Maybe she knows something that can help you."

Sighing, she just nodded. "Alright, fine. I'll do this your way."

"Really?" A smile quirked up on his lips. "Thanks."

Another grumbled reply. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Now get out, I'm gonna change and see if I can do something to look less dead, I don't need more people worrying about this that necessary."

Rex let out a soft chuckle at her disgruntled tone before slipping out of the room.

 **So yeah, she's basically got the flu. Thought it'd be an interesting curveball*cough* noimnotplanningevilthingsforthislaterwhat *cough*. Oops, hope I'm not getting sick too. :3**

 **But yeah, let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!**


	19. Data Stream

**...this is awkward. It's been a hot minute, I know. I got a second job so time has been insanely scarce. I hate how much I've fallen behind with writing since school let out. I used to roll out a chapter every other day, and I think I've finished about 5 sine it let out** ** _in May_** **. I do still have a couple in reserve, but not many, to be honest.**

 **I'm getting to where I don't think I'm going to be able to have a good schedule until I completely finish the story, which honestly bugs the shit out of me. I don't want to be one of those authors that only posts once in a blue moon, but here I am.**

 **Anyways, I'll quit my complaining and let y'all get on with it. I'm sure it's been WAY too long anyways. Just a quick refresher, Kateri IS sick.**

Kateri ended up being a few minutes late to breakfast that morning, which didn't surprise Rex too much given the circumstances. She'd make a comment about trying to look less dead, and he noted that whatever she'd done with the makeup had worked, her face seeming much less pale and she looked more awake. He added it to the mental list of things about girls he didn't understand and was best not to question.

She did her best to slide discreetly into the chair next to him, almost trying to hide behind the bangs that weren't ensnared in the braid that went over her shoulder.

"Here." he said quietly, sliding a clay mug in front of her. "Abuela told me to give this to you, it's chamomile, ginger and honey. She said it should help with your stomach."

She nodded, taking the cup in her hands. "Thanks." She took a sip, then made a face. "Ugh, I hate being sick. My mother used to make me drink ginger tea, she didn't like normal medicine. I mean, it works, but _god_ I can't stand the taste." She took another grudging swallow of it, though. She _did_ essentially tell him that she would try and take care of herself the right way, which unfortunately included drinking nasty ginger tea.

He let out a soft chuckle. "I thought you liked tea? I've seen you drinking chai or whatever it's called before."

She shrugged. "Because I _do_ like tea like chai and earl gray, especially the orange spice ones. It's just the ginger I don't like. It's almost like a spicy kind of bitter and it's gross."

Rex held back another chuckle. The closest he could describe her behavior was pouting, which was _not_ a word he'd generally associate with Kateri, and he couldn't help but find it cute. He decided to keep that to himself, though, doubting she'd be pleased at the thought. "Think you can stand to get some oatmeal? I know it's pretty boring compared to the other stuff but it shouldn't make you sick again."

"No, that's fine. Right now, boring is good." Her main thought with food right then was what they might taste like if she threw up again, and she knew from experience that oatmeal was about the same and was an all around pretty safe option. "Also, if at any point it's chile rellenos again, I refuse to eat. I can stand to skip one meal, but I will _not_ be eating that again for a while." she stated, dropping a small scoop of the tan mush into a shallow bowl, adding only honey to it.

Rex didn't bother asking for an explanation, one hundred percent sure he didn't actually want to hear the answer. "If that happens, I'm sure you can get something else."

He only got a soft grunt in reply as she picked at the oatmeal, but he saw with satisfaction that she did eat most of it. There wasn't much in the first place, but he didn't expect her to eat much anyways.

"So, from where I sit, you've got two choices." He began after they'd helped clear dishes. Most of her chores had been switched to simple things such as that. She still had some, but any kind of food preparation had been removed, as had anything that required a significant amount of physical work. She was in for a lot of washing dishes and sweeping the grounds for the next week or so.

"And what would those be?" she asked in a disgruntled voice. Ordinarily words like those were enough of a reason for her to launch into a full scale fight(she's got issues with authority, okay?), but his tone had her thinking there was something else up his sleeve.

"Well, either you could just go back to your rom and sleep until lunch, which would probably be the smartest thing for you." He paused just long enough for her to send a mock glare his way. " _Or_ , we can go test my theory. Since all it really involves as far as moving goes is sitting down, I figure now is as good a time as any."

"What, _exactly_ , is it you're going to try to do?" she asked. "I know you're going to try to talk to them, but what does that mean? Because as far as I know, they're just little machines, I don't understand how you can talk to them, and what good it does at that."

 _Of all the things you could ask…_ "Uh, I don't have the best answer for that myself." he said after a moment. "To me, that's basically what I'm doing. Talking, communicating, it's the same thing to me. Holiday and Caesar say it's just basically sending and receiving data. I'm asking questions, the nanites are providing answers. I'm just reading information, relaying it, and creating a pathway for new data. All that's kinda long winded to me, because that's what talking _is_ , just a more sciencey way of saying it."

Kateri just nodded, even though Rex wasn't even completely sure what he said so he didn't know how she knew, but he just rolled with it.

They still ended up back in the rooms, but in Rex's instead of Kateri's, only to keep away from prying eyes. Though no one outside of Abuela and Federico knew exactly what was going on with Kateri, they'd guessed that there was something different about her just because she was there with Rex, and a few had expressed curiosity as far as what it was. Neither had disclosed much, aside from her trying to recover from trauma, but Kateri didn't want to take any chances.

"So how are you thinking this is gonna go down?" she asked, sitting cross legged at the foot of his bed, opposite the Latino.

"Not that different from before, really. I want to see if actually touching you makes a difference." he pulled off his gloves and tossed them onto the side table before holding his hand out, fingers splayed with his palm to her. "Every other time, I could feel your nanites attacking mine, but after Doc tried the thing with the pacemaker, I'm pretty sure they just attack foreign objects. So maybe, if there's nothing actually there for them to attack, they won't?"

"You sound very convinced." she noted dryly.

He shrugged, dropping his hand to his lap. "I'm not. No one knows much of anything about them, so everything is educated guesses and speculation."

"But what about the frequency?" she asked. "They have to connect somehow for you to get any information."

"That's actually the basis of why I wanted to try this." he said. "Your phone and mp3 player don't touch them, right? Or even in your hand, they don't shock you?"

"No...well, sometimes it's like a static shock, but not the type of shocking you're talking about, no."

"But it's got to be somewhat connected, to keep them charged. Maybe it's some kind of failsafe in the coding, searching out things that could be a potential threat or something that could tamper with them." he began and he could almost hear them clicking into place for her.

"But mine aren't coded correctly, it's incomplete, so if you try and play off an input signal like the electronics, it might work the same way." she finished.

"Exactly."

"Damn, it's kind of impressive how much people underestimate you." she said with a lopsided smirk. "You act like a complete idiot but you're a lot smarter than people think."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment and walk away before I have a chance to get offended." he said, raising his hand again. "Ready to try it?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." she answered, holding up her own hand, letting it hover a few inches away from his.

His eyes slipped closed in concentration, and after a moment, her palm seemed to almost grow warm, in a very literal sense, like she'd just put her hand against a wall that had the sun shining on it. Nothing even close to painful, she could almost call the warmth pleasant. The feeling spread slowly down her fingers to the rest of her hand but seemed to stop there.

She watched as his fingertips almost took on a soft blue glow and, for lack of a better word, she could _feel_ the machines connecting. Whatever exactly they were doing, they were doing _something_.

On the flip side, Rex could definitely feel something humming beneath his palm, almost in a buzzing sort of way. It reminded him of a hive of bees. Normally, nanites were fairly dormant unless the person was currently an EVO, but he could already tell that Kateri's were a plethora of activity. Pushing just a bit more, he could tell that they were running on a near constant data stream, bouncing information back and forth with little to no breaks. He could also tell there was something distinctly off about them. They felt different than he knew they should, but also were not entirely alien, like taking half the ingredients for a dish and replacing them with something else. It still looked the same on the surface and still served it's purpose, but would smell and taste quite different quite different.

 _Really Rex? Breakfast was less than an hour ago and you're already making food analogies?_ He mentally chided himself. But the point still remained. Curious, he pushed a bit more, trying to see if he could tap into the signal.

"You alright?" he asked, hearing a soft intake of breath from the girl.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It just feels weird and caught me off guard." she replied. It still didn't hurt, but the warmth had grown quite a bit more, reminiscent of standing in the sun in the middle of summer for too long. What had caused the soft gasp was a sensation that radiated over her entire body that felt like she had ants crawling over every inch of her skin. She didn't like it at all, but otherwise stayed silent as it still was not painful.

"It's weird, almost like...they're looking for something." he murmured after a long moment, and his brows furrowed in concentration. The stream of information was almost like a constant murmur of people saying 'it's not here'. Curious, he tried singling out one nanite and attempted picking through the individual information.

Kateri's brow twitched as she felt a tiny pinch in her right upper arm, the feeling not fading away, but not getting any worse, either. It felt like getting a shot, but constant.

It came from the nanite Rex was currently focusing on. Usually, when he tried to talk to them, he was trying to talk to a large mass of them, to get them to do something, namely, deactivate for the purpose of curing. This time, he was trying to just talk to one single nanite, something he'd never really done before, but it wasn't much different in basis, except he didn't have all of them in her body fighting it, just one, which he hoped was not harming her.

There was another few minutes of terse silence, before Rex spoke again.

"From what I can tell, it looks like how they did it in the first place was delete a big chunk of the original coding and try to replace it, but they didn't finish, so half of the information is missing. That's probably why they keep shocking you, because they're technically unstable since they aren't coded right." he said, letting his hands drop. Immediately, the pinch, crawling and hot sensations all went away. "That didn't hurt or anything, did it?"

She shook her head. "No. Well, something stung my arm a little but it was easy to ignore."

He stood and offered a hand out to the girl, pulling her to his feet. "Honestly, it's not much more than we already know, like the fact the coding was unfinished. But I could tell something else. There's a constant communication between them, which I think has something to do with the electrical currents. The shocking has been a lot less frequent, right?" She nodded. "I think that's because they're trying to fix themselves. That data stream is your nanites trying to replace the missing coding, which in turn is letting you control them more and more."

"Really? But then why couldn't any of the other's do that?" she asked, referring to the hostages with the fully rewritten nanites.

"Because yours weren't done right in the first place. There's still some of the original code leftover, in addition to the new. They're working off what they have, which is a mix of both, so it's creating some kind of hybrid code which is letting it sync up with your body and let you give it commands. That also means, since most of it is completely foreign to how _mine_ are, it's gonna attack anything else that tries to mess with it, which is almost everything since it started building the hybrid code."

She looked confused for a moment. "Wait, if nanites don't like foreign signals, how to you cure EVOs then? I mean, aren't _yours_ different from everyone else's?"

"Yeah, but it's still the same code. Everyone else's just doesn't have all of it. Like they have copies of the same book and a bunch of pages are missing, but I have the whole thing. Same coding, just more of it." he explained. If someone had asked him the same question a couple of years ago, his guess would have been as good as theirs, but since then, Caesar had done quite a bit more studying on his nanites and learned more about them, answering several questions that had been unanswered for a long time.

The Native American girl just nodded. "I think I'm about done with all the coding and data bullshit for one day. It gets on my nerves on a good day, and the day after I threw up is not a good day."

Rex just laughed at the girl's grumpy demeanor. "Alright, fair enough. So I don't suppose you'd just go back to bed after this, right?"

"Good guess."

He frowned anyways, before stepping forward, placing a palm on her forehead before she could protest. "You still have a fever. It's already pretty warm out here, so it would be better if you took a cold shower and went back to bed. Sleep would be the best thing for you."

"Right, since I'm so notorious for doing what's best for me." she said wryly. "Seriously Rex, I'm gonna be fine. I'll take it easy for a couple days, but I'm really not someone who can just stay in bed all day over a fever."

He knew that, of course he did. The stubborn girl walked around on a fractured ankle for _weeks_ , and had half of her body covered in burns without telling anyone because it would interfere with the mission. Rex was certain you could break half the girl's bones and she'd still tell people she'd be fine. "I know, I know...I just wish you'd let yourself take it easy. I know you _can_ manage just fine, I've seen you do it more times than I honestly care to. But you don't _have_ to right now, and honestly, I think you should take advantage of that, since it's a luxury I know you haven't normally ever gotten. Could you still go through the motions of the day, yeah. But you don't need to, so just let someone else take care of you for a change. You don't always have to take on the world by yourself y'know." he finished with a crooked, sincere smile.

For a moment, Kateri didn't say anything, any words she might have had withering on her tongue before her mouth even opened. Because, once again, Rex was right. Something that was getting more and more frequent as time went on, the Latino had more wisdom than she'd yet to credit him with. "I've been having to admit your right far more than I'd like to lately, stop making sense."

Rex grinned. "But then how else am I gonna irritate you?"

"You have a natural talent for it, believe me, it won't be hard for you to find something else." she replied with a smirk.

"Hey!" he protested, but the smile never left his face.

Kateri let out a short laugh before pulling herself to her feet. "Come on, Cherry Boy, I'm sure someone's gonna come looking for us if we don't leave soon. Don't need any rumors spreading about us vanishing at the same time."

"...did you just call me Cherry Boy?" he asked, standing up as well. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that's a Seraph of the End reference."

"You bet your ass it is-wait, you've _seen_ that? I've seriously never met anyone else who has unless I'm the one who told them to watch it." she said, eyes lighting up.

"You kidding? Man, anytime I go to Hong Kong to see some friends, all we do is binge anime. Have you seen Tokyo Ghoul or Noragami?"

"Hell yes I have!" She stopped, then narrowed her eyes. "Just curious, you don't ship Yuu and Shinoa, right?"

Rex scratched the back of his head. "Instinct tells me I should, but I just can't. Him and Mika are about one forehead touch away from the whole thing being a yaoi, so it's hard to ship them with anyone else."

The pair exited the room, idly chattering away about other shows and characters, for a moment, their troubles all but forgotten.

(*)

Holiday knocked on the frame of Caesar's lab door, peering inside. "Caesar? Have you finished your system reports yet?" she asked, pausing for his no. They were always late.

"Not quite, I've gotten a little carried away with this." he said in a tone that sounded exactly as sheepish as it did every week when she asked. Not waiting for a response, he continued. "I've been studying the sample of Kateri's nanites from the blood you drew when she was first admitted to the clinic. I can't read them like Rex can, but they seem to be in a constant state of communication. Do you think Rex has found out any more about them?"

"I'm not sure, but I doubt it. Last I heard, every time he tried to link with them, it ended up hurting Kateri quite a bit, so I doubt he'd try again. But it wouldn't hurt to ask, just in case. That is," she added. " _After_ you get those reports finished."

"Yes, yes, I'll get them done." he waved her off, earning an annoyed eyebrow raise, but no further comment from the short brunette. Letting out a soft sigh, she just turned and left.

As for the eldest Salazar, who hadn't taken his eyes away from the microscope at all during the entire exchange, he didn't even realize the woman had left, instead carefully realigning the device before looking up at the readings on the monitor beside him.

The levels of the data stream would fluctuate as he moved it around, but they seemed to fluctuate in a fairly consistent pattern, so it didn't make much different where he took them from as they all bore the same results.

Glancing back down through the lense, he could also actually the the microscopic bots moving. Normally, with any regular person with dormant nanites, the tiny machines would just drift through their bloodstream, not really moving around or doing...anything, really. But the ones in Kateri's blood sample were constantly twitching every now and again. Caesar also very much suspected that the ones currently inside her body were moving much faster and much more than these since they were still in a living body, whereas all the cells in the sample had died off nearly two months ago.

Humming to himself, he tugged over a device he'd been tinkering with for a while, even before Rex and Kateri had gone to Abuela's. It had started out as just a radio, but he'd modified to to pick up on a higher range of frequencies than just radio signals. Picking up a small metal rod attached to a thin cable, he held the blunt tip of it close to the sample of Kateri's blood before flicking on the radio and turning the tuning dial, carefully watching the nanites beneath the microscope.

At first, they didn't seem to do anything at all, but as he turned it higher and higher, they started moving more and more, bouncing around erratically. Twisting the knob higher, he continued to watch what they did.

The movements just got continually more and more rapid until most of them looked like they were vibrating. Then, he squinted against a bright flash as the entire sample sparked, the lines of electricity being visible between each little nanobot.

After a moment, he chanced glancing through the lense again to see that all of the movement had completely stopped, not even leaving the occasional twitching that they had in the start. Glancing at the modified radio, he noticed it was starting to smoke just a bit as well, and he quickly realized it was beginning to overheat.

"Hm, it looks like the nanites managed to burn out their energy source while fighting off the other signal." he mused to himself. It didn't surprise him too much. When they'd tried to X-ray the girl after her initial arrival, all it did was scramble the machines and begin to overheat them, much like what just happened. All nanites had a self-generating power source that was several times what the little machines actually needed to function, as a failsafe so their power wouldn't run out before the person passed on. Kateri's had been expending enough at once that they couldn't produce it quickly enough, which was really a tremendous amount of energy. It also explained why so few of the nanites could nearly overheat the device next to him.

 _Should she walk next to some form of gamma radiation, it could cause her entire body to combust._ He concluded, glancing at the frequency at which the dial had been turned before the nanites gave out. It was a few notches below a low X-ray frequency. Her entire body could likely handle the waves without too much issue, since there would be more than a tiny blood sample to combat them, but if she got too close to a high concentration of anything radioactive, there was a decent chance it could short out _all_ of her nanites, which would not only be extremely painful for a few minutes, but likely kill her. The odds of the archer finding herself in such a position was highly unlikely, even at Providence where nuclear based _anything_ was a rare occurrence, but if her life so far was anything to go off of, Caesar was quite certain that the girl would have an exceptional skill at defying such odds.

"After all, she does hang around Rex. That combination is a near guarantee to defy the expected." he murmured, before cleaning the petri dish of the blood sample and starting up on his system reports.

(*)

A cool breeze drifted over Kateri's warm toffee skin, lightly ruffling her bangs and making the material of her shirt ripple ever so slightly. Ultimately, the Navajo girl had ended up just finding a soft patch of grass and taking a nap in the sun. She had always loved the feeling of the warmth on her skin, but would rarely get the chance to just enjoy it. Arms crossed behind her head and one foot tucked under her knee, she just let herself enjoy the soft smell of the grass and the peaceful calm for a couple hours.

It was...really nice.

Her nausea had faded a bit with her lack of motion and the light headache she'd developed was much less harsh now as well. She was sure both would change the moment she stood up but for the moment they were hardly a nuisance.

Letting one eye slide open a crack, she glanced at her watch, this one being just a simple silver and white analog watch. She didn't see the point in another one of the smart watches. She'd been out there over an hour and a half, by the looks of it, mostly undisturbed. Rex had followed her out there initially, but he left before long, wanting to let her have her space.

Despite how content she was, though, she couldn't help the slight irritation of not doing anything. Yes, it was nice to be able to just sit in the sun for a bit, but it nagged in the back of her mind that she could be doing something productive instead of picking up on lazy habits. They were easy enough to tamp down at first, but now after nearly two hours of doing nothing, she found herself unable to sit still much longer and it still be enjoyable.

With a soft sigh, she carefully pulled herself to her feet. As expected, the motion brought back the nausea and headache in a swift wave, but it wasn't any worse than it had been before she'd sat down, so she pushed it back and headed back to the compound.

The archer would peer carefully around a corner before turning it, having had one too many run ins with the local children recently to have the patience for them right now. Fortunately, luck seemed to be on her side as she didn't pass anyone under the age of twelve.

Walking around a bit, she ended up back in the gardens where she saw Rex, Federico and a handful of the other older boys playing soccer. Or at least trying to, because after a few minutes of watching, it was clear that Rex was terrible at the game, often kicking foul balls or just missing it entirely when he swung his foot. Federico was a good sport about it but the others on his team were clearly annoyed.

Finally, after missing the ball again and ending up flat on his back, Rex seemed to decide he was done with the game. Using the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat away, offering a quick view of his abdomen which was also glossy with sweat, he walked off the makeshift field, finally noticing Kateri standing there. Noticing her amused smirk, his face dissolved into mild embarrassment. "Ah...how long have you been there."

"Long enough to be quite impressed they let you play as long as you did. I'm not exactly World Cup material myself, but I'm pretty sure I could at least kick the ball." she replied.

"Just...hush. I know I suck, I promise every single person let me know _every time_ I did something wrong out there." he replied, disgruntled.

Kateri let out a soft laugh. "So why play? Or why not play a game you're actually good at...is there one?"

Rex shot her a playful glare. "Yes, there are. I can play volleyball pretty well-oh! That reminds me, how does a quick trip to the town sound?"

Kateri gave him a curious look. "Uh, how does volleyball remind you of that?"

"Just answer the question." he pressed.

She let one shoulder rise then drop. "I don't know, fine I guess? Why?"

"Because I want you to meet someone."

 **I'm going to apologize for the annoying cliffhanger, especially for how bad my updating had been in recent months. I promise once I get the next chapter finished, I'll post again, and I'll do my best to make sure I actually DO it. It just gets hard to find motivation when I don't get home from work until 11-11:30 sometimes.**

 **Also, let me just say once again, I know very little about fine tuned IT stuff, and a majority of Caesar and Holiday's conversation was bullshitted. Some of the things are valid points I'll use later, but pieces I used to tie them together I literally pulled out of my ass, so please bear with me for the sake of the story.**

 **Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy! Please leave me a review and tell me what you thought! I love hearing your feedback!**


	20. New Acquaintances

**Hello darkness my old friend...**

 **Honest to god, I actually just lost the document for this one. Apparently I accidentally moved it to an old folder with a story from like four years ago(can I get a** ** _yikes_** **for how bad that is) but I finally managed to locate it.**

 **ALSO, I found the perfect reference for how Kateri talks. I've mentioned a couple times how she has a light accent, and I meant to say this last time, but if any of you have seen Moana, how she talks is a pretty dead on representation of how it sounds. For the most part it sounds normal but if you have a full conversation you notice a slight lilt to some of her words.**

 **I'll have a few more notes at the bottom but you now I'll leave y'all to it.**

The trip to the main town near Abuela's little village didn't take too long, about fifteen minutes on Rex's bike at a relatively leisurely pace(especially compared to how fast the EVO teen normally had to drive it). Kateri's arms were wound loosely around his waist, although, really, it wasn't necessary, the ride smooth enough that she wouldn't have been knocked off. Her braid whipped lightly behind her in a swaying tail, her bangs blown back out of her face.

As per usual, it was fairly warm that day, but considering how close they were to the equator, it wasn't unusual, but out of sheer habit Kateri still wore her jacket, the sleeves scrunched around her elbows. She was long accustomed to the heat anyways, so it didn't bother her much.

For the most part they rode in silence, but it was a comfortable silence, neither feeling the need to break it. At one point, Kateri had leaned into Rex's back, watching the ground rush by as the soft scent of bananas enveloped her nose. When she first realized several weeks ago that the Latino smelled like bananas, she couldn't help but be amused, what with his chimp roommate. But, despite the monkey having temporarily moved to another room, the scent still clung to the teen and Kateri had eventually found the smell comforting. It wasn't like anyone else but Rex smelled like bananas, so it meant he was nearby.

 _Oh god, I'm so hopeless_ she thought to herself, yet couldn't seem to be remotely upset about it.

After another few minutes, the low rising buildings came into sight and Rex began to slow down, deconstructing the hoverbike at the edge of town. Though his EVO status was hardly a secret, he also didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention if he could avoid it. When he was younger, he used to enjoy the attention, but now it was honestly just a nuisance. He also didn't think Kateri would much appreciate being surrounded by curious people, she'd had more than enough of that.

"So who are we meeting?" she asked after a couple minutes of walking alongside Rex.

"Surprise. Gotta make it interesting somehow." he replied with a grin.

The Native American just rolled her eyes. "Sure you do."

As they walked past a building with a bell tower that looked a bit taller than the rest, someone called out Rex's name, both teens turned to see a man around Caesar's age in an off white suit waving to them.

"Esteban? You're still mayor?" Rex asked, approaching him with Kateri close behind.

"Don't sound so surprised, _hijo_ , I'm not like American politicians. I serve this city with only the best intentions." he replied with a good natured grin.

"I know, I'm more impressed that you're still putting up with it. I mean, as mayor, isn't every problem going to be your fault, regardless of if it actually is?" Rex asked with a wry grin.

Esteban let out a chuckle. "Seems that way. By the way, I don't believe I have met this lovely young lady before."

"Oh, right!" he shot the girl a sheepish smile. "Sorry, this is Kateri. Kateri, this is Esteban, which you probably figured out. He's an old friend of my brother's."

"Nice to meet you. I know Rex told you, but my name's Kateri Blackfeather." she spoke up, shaking his offered hand.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Blackfeather. Not to run off so soon, but I do have some business to attend to. It is good to see you, Rex, you really must drop by more often."

"Will do." Both teens waved at the man.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say this isn't who we're meeting." Kateri said once Esteban had vanished back into the building.

"Nope. Come on, there's a little restaurant around the corner. I remember going there a lot when I was younger." he said, leading her off once again.

Holding the door open for the archer, she stepped inside, subtly scanning the area. She saw the person Rex was talking about almost immediately, their figure unmistakable. "Rex...you brought me here to meet _Circe_?"

He shrugged. "I don't see the problem. She asked to meet you a while back, and I think she wants to talk to you. She doesn't have anything against you and I don't see why you'd have anything against her, unless you're going to decide to get jealous." Not that he thought she would, it just simply wasn't her personality to do so.

Kateri didn't respond, instead just walking forward. She suspected the girl with the purple ombre hair knew they'd arrived almost as soon as Kateri had seen her, but she'd chosen to let them come over on their own.

It was actually Kateri who was the first to approach her. After all, it seemed to be her that the girl was interested in meeting, and she wasn't exactly the type to hide behind someone else. "You're Circe, right?" she asked, sitting across from her. She'd almost called her 'the witch girl', but caught herself. Not exactly the best first impression to make, but she hadn't actually learned her name until meeting Rex.

"Yeah. And I'm guessing you're the other girl?" she replied, in a tone that was more curious than anything. "Kateri, I think?"

"That would be me. I'm guessing Rex told you who I am." the archer continued, Rex now sitting beside her but remaining silent. Kateri also didn't comment at the mispronunciation of her name, sounding more like Katuri, thinking now was not the best time to be correcting it.

"Not much beside your name. He told me that you'd be the one to tell me anything I should know." Circe answered.

"Fair enough." Kateri relented. "So, what exactly _do_ you want to know? Why did you want to meet me in the first place?"

Circe raised an eyebrow. "From what I heard, you're the main reason Rex disappeared for over a month and a half. I'm guessing there's more to you than meets the eye if he'd do something like that so I wanted to know who you were."

Her tone wasn't cynical, but it wasn't quite friendly, either. Honestly, Circe wasn't quite sure _what_ to think of this girl. Her immediate impression was straightforward and bold. She clearly wasn't afraid of her and didn't waste any time in getting to the point. She also seems very intelligent and aware. She'd noticed her sweeping the surroundings immediately upon entering the building and singling Circe out in an instant. She didn't seem to want to start a fight, but Circe was certain she'd have no problem ending one should one occur.

"I guess there's no harm in that. I was kind of curious about you too." Kateri said after a moment. "So I guess ask away. I'm not going to guarantee an answer to everything, but the worst you'd get is a no."

The tension in the sir rose a couple of notches and before either girl had a chance to speak, Rex cleared his throat. "Uh, I'm gonna go...somewhere. Pretty sure whatever this talk is gonna be is a chick thing and I don't need to be here. Can I trust you two not to kill each other for like an hour? Then we can all go get ice cream or something?"

Kateri rolled her eyes but a small grin betrayed her amusement. "I'm not gonna do anything, Rex. Can't speak for her, but two people can have a civil conversation."

Circe just shrugged again. "I'm the one who asked to talk in the first place. Better hurry, though, or the girl cooties are gonna get you."

The two girls laughed at her comment and Rex just huffed before walking away.

"So, I'm here now. What do you want me to talk about?" Kateri pressed again once Rex had left. She was almost glad he'd decided to leave, she felt like the conversation would be a little awkward with him there.

"What happened when he vanished? I'm assuming he was helping you, but with what?"

Kateri's expression darkened. Circe wasn't one to waste time sugarcoating, either. "It's a pretty long story, but there is a short version. It was, ultimately, a rescue mission. I won't lie, it had somewhat selfish origins, but we ended up saving a lot of lives. But my parents didn't end up being one of them. I knew they'd been taken, I worked for the company. But it wasn't by choice, my parents were the ultimatum, and I'd been working for over six and a half years towards freeing them. But, of course, it was for nothing. I was just their pawn, and I stupidly thought if I obeyed them, if I became one of their pet mercenaries, they'd let them go. I didn't really have a choice, since they threatened to kill me and my parents, but the fact I was stupid enough to think I was actually fighting for something worthwhile was almost my downfall."

"So what did he have to do with that?"

"I'd managed to piece together enough about where they'd taken my parents and what the project they were being used for that I could get them myself. I didn't have a whole lot of friends, but if we were careful and played our cards right, we might could have pulled it off. At the time, I was on an undercover mission centered around him, which is how I found out about him at all. I was given access to all the information on his and his associates and told to watch him. Try and get close. All they really wanted was information about his Omega nanite, some way to recreate it. At the time, I didn't know why, orders were just orders, although I do now. Anyways, I was doing just that, but I ended up getting caught. Ironically, after saving him. I was pretty sure he needed to be alive to complete my first mission, so I helped him."

"If all they wanted was information, couldn't they have just hacked it from Providence? I mean, sure, the security's tight, but if they're as powerful as you say…" Circe stated.

"They did, but it wasn't enough. They needed more than what that could provide." Kateri told her.

"But how would they get that, unless…" she trailed off and raised an accusing eyebrow at the Navajo girl.

Kateri knew she'd already connected the dots. "Once I got close to him, I was supposed to help bring him in. As far as I knew, they weren't going to hurt him, just study the Omega so they could build their own. From what I'd known then, most of their projects centered around nanite-based experiments. For a long time, I'd been told they were humane, and seen a number myself. Very rarely did I see them test on live creatures, and those were only the developed ones. Again, stupid."

"I'm still on the part where you planned to help them basically kidnap Rex." she said, her tone stiff and cold.

Kateri merely nodded. "I was. I was also going to personally ensure he wasn't harmed. He's innocent, has helped people on countless occasions. There was no reason to hurt him. I only agreed to it in the first place, because once they got the information they needed, I planned to take it myself and use it as a bargaining chip. From my perspective, it was a win-win. He got off without a scratch and none the wiser, I got my parents back and could cut ties with them, and they got their information. But, when Rex managed to capture _me_ instead, things got...complicated."

Circe remained quiet, but the looks of accusation had drained away a bit.

"Once I realized the full extent of what he was capable of, I knew it could be what would make or break a full rescue mission. I knew about the machines, but his blatant interconnection with technology made so many things so much easier. I'm still completely sure that I'd still be a merc lapdog or dead if he hadn't helped."

"You said this mission was around helping break out your parent's, right? But you also said they didn't make it out?" That question was one more out of curiosity than anything.

Kateri chewed her bottom lip a moment before answering. "I almost don't want to answer that, but at this point, it's not like it matters. Once we got to the lab where they were being held, we found about sixteen other people who'd been subjected to a lot of...really horrifying experimentation, and those are just the ones we got out. There had to have been at least half a dozen more that had been too far gone to help. As for my parents, they hadn't been used as guinea pigs, but that didn't mean they got treated any better. I found out that something went down and they ended up killing my mother to force my father's hand. I never did learn what it was and I still don't want to know. Because, in the end, it doesn't change the fact that my mother is dead. When I got there, my dad was still alive, but he ended up getting hit right before we got him out. He ended up brain dead and I couldn't let him rot away in a hospital bed."

Circe couldn't find anything to say.

"Anyways, in the end, he ended up being the only casualty of the people that were still able to be saved. That's honestly how I cope with that failure, is knowing that we all still saved sixteen people from a living nightmare. Several of them, after psych evaluations, even joined the Providence Academy. A lot of them didn't have lives to return to, so they stayed."

Nearly all the previous resentment had drained away once Kateri had told the extent of the story. "So why are you at Providence? Do you work for them now? What about the other company?"

Kateri held up a hand, counting on her fingers as she answered Circe's questions. "I'm at Providence because, honestly, I don't have much anywhere else better to go that'd I'd prefer. No, I don't work for them and I'm not sure if I'm going to. As for them...I don't honestly know. I know that the building we took down was where their biggest projects were, and we shut down the majority of their system so most of their data is gone, but they're almost guaranteed still in the shadows."

Circe nodded, before asking the question both girls knew was coming sooner or later. "So, what about Rex?"

"What about him?" Not really an answer, but such an open question had the potential to go so many ways.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure that you guys aren't exactly just friends." Circe elaborated.

Kateri was quiet for a moment. "I'm...not sure I have an answer for that myself. Is he just a friend? No, I don't think so, but I don't know if he's anything more, either." She sighed, rubbing one temple. "I didn't exactly walk out of that hellhole in great shape, either. Doctor Holiday has been watching me as a recovering PTSD patient, and really, there's kinda a lot of shit wrong with my head. I don't want to call it one thing and then find out later it's not once I have my head back on straight. Right now, he's just been someone who's constantly there for me and helping with things I can't handle myself."

Circe didn't seem completely happy with this answer, but she seemed to know that it was the best she'd be getting. "What about him? Do you know what he thinks?"

"Possibly? I know it's something he wants, but he also knows why I won't give it to him right now. I don't know for sure what he thinks and I won't ask. It's not fair to him, since I don't have an answer for him." Kateri replied, although even she knew it was only a half truth. She had a pretty goddamn good idea of what he thought. Although it hadn't been said out loud, it didn't really need to.

Circe seemed to sense this too. "So, what is he to _you_ , relatively speaking? He might be an open book, but you really aren't. There's no label and I get that, but you've got to have some kind of opinion on just him." Honestly, she hadn't been expecting her to actually answer, but was surprised when she did.

Kateri considered her question for a moment. "I don't really have a clean cut answer for that, either. I care about him, more than I feel like I should sometimes. And honestly, it's hard not to compare myself to him. He does so much good, but me? I spent _years_ , doing a lot of really awful things, justifying them the whole time that it was for a greater cause. But yet, he doesn't hold any of it against me, even when I feel like he should." She let out a humorless chuckle. "I mentioned it once in passing and he said I did more than enough of it for both of us, but it's still kind of crazy to think that he's so willing to put it all aside. I don't feel like I deserve that kind of forgiveness, but he doesn't care, because he can see the present and not be blinded by the past."

Circe just gave her a knowing smile. "I think that he's easier to read than a book in black and white. A lot of people would argue on whether he's a good judge of character, but I think he knows what someone's intentions are beneath the surface. He's giving you a chance because he wants to. And if you're smart, you're not going to let it slip through your fingers like I did and waste it."

Kateri cracked a small, halfhearted smile. "You know, you're alright."

Circe let a smile of her own tug at her lips. "Likewise."

(*)

The two girls ended up leaving the restaurant together, having drifted to more idle conversations. They found Rex in a small antique shop a couple doors down on the business strip, wandering around with a bored expression.

"So, no cat fight I take it?" was the first thing out of his mouth, earning a light smack from Kateri and an eyeroll from Circe.

"Yeah, and you missed it. We came to find you so you can judge a tie breaker." Circe replied in a flat tone.

"But that would mean he's gonna have to get close to _two_ angry girls!" Kateri said dramatically. "That's just too much to ask a man."

"You know what I think? I think letting you two even have the chance to become friends was a terrible idea." Rex cut in.

"You brought me to her." Kateri said.

"You told me where to go to meet her." Circe chimed in.

"Seriously Rex, you were just asking to get messed with." Kateri told him.

"I'm pretty sure that women in general are pretty much the dictionary definition of a bad idea." he grumbled. "Also, you changed your hair again."

Circe flicked a lock of the ombre over her shoulder, a cool toned lavender instead of the usual red. "Yeah, I switch it up once in awhile. Keeps things interesting."

"So, is it safe to say you two are cool?"

Kateri and Circe glanced at one another.

"I don't see us making friendship bracelets anytime soon, but there's no problem." Kateri eventually said, which Rex was more than happy with.

"Good enough for me. Now, anybody up for that ice cream?"

(*)

While they didn't end up finding ice cream parlor, the three teens _did_ find a candy store, and ended up there instead.

"Can you guys at least get _something_?" Rex whined. "I feel kinda stupid if I'm the only one getting anything."

His complaint was more based off of the amount of candy he was getting than the fact he was the only one getting any.

"Rex, you know I'm not big on sweets, and since I'm still sick, I doubt candy is going to help." Kateri said, which then had the Latino turning his enormous puppy eyes to Circe.

She just glanced around. "Most of this stuff has chile powder in it somewhere and I don't like spicy stuff."

However, after another couple minutes of whining, both girls caved, if only to get him to be quiet. Kateri poked around, finding some kind of chocolate bar with pieces of strawberries in it(because chocolate doesn't count as sweets, it is it's own category). Circe found that they sold the hard Life Savers and settled on a roll of them to make Rex happy. Sometimes you just had to pick your battles.

Once they left, the trio ended up just walking around the town, letting Rex lead the way as he pointed out a few things he remembered and just drifting though small talk in general.

"Oh man, I remember me and a couple of the other kids used to climb on the horse statue." Rex gestured to a bronze rearing horse mounted to the ground on a platform a few inches tall. "It was great until someone slipped off one day and broke a tooth on the step."

"I don't suppose that was, ah...Jaime, was it?" Kateri asked. She'd managed to learn a few names when doing the different chores. She'd been paired with Jaime a couple times when it was her turn to sweep the grounds. He had one tooth that was chipped and slightly crooked.

"I think so?" Rex said, pausing. "I'm like...seventy percent sure that's right. Anyways, after that we weren't allowed to mess around to the statutes whenever someone brought us kids to town."

"You sure it was this Jaime kid that fell, or was it you and you just hit your head hard enough you forgot?" Circe grinned.

Rex's smile slipped ever so slightly, but she didn't seem to notice. "Ha ha, very funny. I'll have you know I never hit my head from climbing on statutes."

Kateri had picked up on the slight change, however. She'd been taught how to pick up on subtle body language, but didn't think then was the best time to bring it up.

Before anyone could say anything else, Rex's phone began to ring. He glanced down at his fingers, which were a bit sticky from the candy he'd already eaten. "Uh, Kateri, can you grab that? Pocket's on your side, the password is one, one, one seven."

She raised an eyebrow. "Now I wonder where I know _that_ number from." she asked, digging out his phone as a light blush colored his face.

"Noah figured out my old one and he likes to prank call White to get me in trouble, I had to change it to something." he grumbled.

 _Something that just happens to be my birthday_ she thought to herself, typing in the numbers and answering the call. "Rex's phone, this is Kateri?"

" _Kateri? Where's Rex?"_ Holiday's voice came through the speaker.

"He's standing right next to me, there's just stuff on his hands so I answered the phone." she replied.

" _Alright. He's needed for a mission. It's actually not too far away from where you are, so I was going to see if he could just meet us there."_ Holiday said.

Kateri quickly relayed her words to him. "Yeah, he said it's no problem as long as he's got coordinates."

" _Not a problem, I'll send them as soon as you hang up._ " There was a brief pause. " _I know we haven't spoken much, not nearly as much as I'd like, but how are you doing?_ "

"Better, honestly. I like it here." she answered truthfully.

" _Good to hear. I'll see if I can get in touch with you soon, I'd like to do another psych checkup."_

"No problem, Doctor Holiday."

" _Alright. I'll leave you to it."_

The line went dead a few seconds later, and she handed the phone back to Rex, who'd cleaned his hands off by then.

"Can't get away for long." he murmured, slipping it back into his pocket.

"I guess this is where I head out." Circe said. "After all, I don't just sit around doing nothing, either, I'm a busy girl."

"Before you go." Kateri pulled out a napkin and a pen and wrote her phone number on it. "I'm not usually the type to hand out my number, but maybe we could stay in touch? I'm not the best at making friends, and you're pretty alright."

A small smile crosse Circe's face as she took the napkin, carefully tearing it in half so Kateri's number one on one part and she held a blank one. "Can I borrow that pen? You're not so bad yourself and I get what you mean about the whole friends thing." Circe handed back the piece she'd torn away and the pen, now containing her number as well. "You're not so bad yourself, and I wouldn't mind getting to know you a little more."

"Oh god, they're friends now. Next it's gonna be a plot to take over the world." Rex groaned after watching the exchange.

"Oh pipe down." Kateri waved him off. "You're being dramatic. I'd expected it to be a lot more awkward, but honestly, I'm glad it wasn't."

"Yeah. So, see you guys around?" Circe offered a small wave, so which Kateri and Rex returned before parting ways.

They made thier way back to the edge of town before Rex constructed the hoverbike once more. "I'm gonna go ahead and take you back before I head out."

"Actually, I was gonna ask if I could come, like before?" she said with a sweet smile as she settled behind him.

"Nice try. You're sick, you stay here." he replied easily, sliding his goggles down over his eyes.

Kateri's expression went flat, but she didn't bother complaining. She hadn't expected much else. There were a couple minutes of silence before she remembered something and figured now was as good a time as any to ask. "Hey, Rex? Earlier, she made some comment about you getting dropped or something and you seemed a little off."

"So you noticed that, huh." he said, his voice a bit quieter. "It's not about the dropping thing, people say stuff like that all the time. It just kinda bugs me when people talk about me not remembering stuff right. I spent a lot of years barely knowing who I was, so I tend to be really paranoid about stuff like that, about not remembering things right."

"Oh." Kateri just stayed quiet after that, not really sure there was anything to say to that.

It ended up being Rex who broke the silence. "Seriously, don't worry too much about it. Does it bug me, yeah, but it's not a big deal. Everyone forgets things, it happens, and it's not like I've forgotten anything super important."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." she replied. His words did still bother her a bit, but for no good reason she could find, so she pushed it away. "So, I was-hey, what are those?"

Rex glanced over in the direction she pointed, slowing down a bit as he changed direction. They were fairly close to the village anyways. "Oh, just Abuela's stables. She keeps a few horses."

"Really? That's cool." Kateri didn't press the issue further, but he could tell she was curious by them.

"Why, you like horses?" he asked.

She shrugged. "My parents had a couple when I was a kid, so I used to ride them a lot. But I haven't since I stopped living at my house, so it's been a while."

"Oh. Maybe I'll see if we can ride them sometime." he said, starting back towards the village, Kateri just nodding.

Then, a loud chime began to ring from the belltower as they reached the front gate. As it sounded, Rex then realized something.

"Wait, that was the lunch bell." He said, face paling.

"...yes." Kateri said in confusion, unsure as to why he seemed so distressed by this fact.

"I was supposed to help in the kitchen. Abuela and Rosa are gonna kill me!"

Kateri's loud laughter echoed around the empty foyer, a musical and bubbly sound.

Lips turning up in a soft smile, Rex knew that alone made it worth whatever trouble was coming for him.

 **It's kinda funny, the most recent review for this (shout out to DraftsmanFive) said something about wanting to see some more of Rex's friends in this, and this chapter has been written since September (just a hint as to how far behind I've fallen as well *finger guns*). They also specifically mentioned the Hong Kong gang, and while I'd really love to include them(I can't express how much I love Cricket), I'm not sure how I'd pull them in. I may work something out, though, because I DO want to put them in since I feel like no enough people do.**

 **Would anyone else be interested in seeing them worked in or would that be putting in too many elements to keep up with?**

 **But make no mistake, I'm not done with Circe. I did my best to play this out as accurately as I could for their characters, so please let me know if you think I did a good job on that.**

 **Thanks for reading! I hope to be back soon with another chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you thought!**


	21. Against the Wind

**Sorry for the wait. Working 2 jobs and trying to move out, I haven't had time to do much of anything besides work and sleep but I'm visiting my aunt(who just had shoulder surgery) so I had some down time and managed to get some written on this.**

 **Honestly, I kinda hate this chapter. It came out all awkward and doesn't flow well at all, and most of it was written early in the morning, but I've edited it and rewritten as best as I can, so I'm just gonna post it and be done with it. I'd have deleted it completely, but something heavily plot relevant happens, so I can't. I'm sorry this chapter is so sub-par after the wait, but I'm working my way through the final arc of the story right now, so I'm hoping to finish it up** **entirely** **soon.**

 **Anyways, here's the long awaited chapter!**

As it turned out, Rex wouldn't have gotten in trouble anyways. Once Kateri had gone through the gate, Rex left before going inside, since he was supposed to meet Six and Holiday, which was reason enough for him to have not been there(as long as they didn't find out Kateri had bent the truth of when he left). Though she still was pretty sick to her stomach, she did manage to get down a few bites of chicken and rice. Much less that she was sure Rex would have liked, but she ate _something_ and he wasn't there to get onto her, so it would have to be good enough.

Afterwards, she found Federico, who was about to go play soccer with a few of his friends, but waved them ahead when the girl approached him.

"Yeah, I'll catch up in a sec." he said before turning to the Navajo girl. "I noticed Rex wasn't here. He get called off?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to ask you something real quick, do you know who takes care of the horses?" she began.

He gave her a curious look. "Yeah, Roana's uncle Luis and his son Alejandro do. Why, did you want to help them or something?"

"Actually, I wanted to see if I could _ride_ them." she said. "If that means helping take care of them, I have no problem with that though."

"I don't see why not. Luis is the one who manages everything, Alejandro is kind of just a stable boy, but they're both pretty friendly. Luis speaks decent English, but Alejandro doesn't know much, though." Federico said.

"That's fine, I know Spanish. At least enough to get the point across." she said, a brief look of surprise crossing his face.

"Alright, well then good luck." he said.

"Thanks for your help." she said, waving to him before turning.

Making her way to the front gate, and then to towards the stables, excitement sparked in her. It had been nearly seven years since the last time she'd ridden a horse, but she was sure she could do it. After all, the basics weren't hard to learn in the first place and Rex couldn't get mad at her for it because it wasn't hardly and physical exertion on her part.

Walking through the big barn style door, she glanced around to see a number of horse stalls, some of them empty, but many having an animal in it. Glancing, she saw a number of different breeds. Thoroughbred, Paint, Quarter...she was honestly surprised with herself that she remembered as many as she did, though there were still a few that she didn't recognize.

" _¿Quién eres tú?(1)_ "

She turned to see a younger looking boy, around her age maybe a bit older, with black hair combed to the side.

" _Oh, um, mi nombre es Kateri. ¿Eres Alejandro?(2)_ " she replied, remembering that one didn't speak much English.

A small flicker of recognition ,passed over his features. " _Ah, eres amigo de Rex, verdad? Encantada de conocerte(3)._ "

She smiled. " _Igualmente. Alguien me dijo que su padre gestiona los establos? ¿Usted piensa que yo podría hablar con él acerca de montar uno de los caballos?(4)"_

Alejandro nodded. " _¡Por supuesto! Vamos, te llevo a él(5)_."

" _Gracias."_

She followed the taller man through a door at the other end of the barn into what looked somewhat like a lobby, a couple of worn chairs and a couch around a coffee table taking up most of the space. A small desk was tucked into one corner along with a rolling chair, a filing cabinet and an ancient desktop computer. Sitting in the chair was a man with a faded blue hat that was clearly older than Alejandro and she could only assume this was Luis.

" _Oi, papá, esto es que la chica Rex trajo con él. Ella está preguntando acerca de montar uno de los caballos.(6)_ " Alejandro spoke, getting his attention.

Luis turned and Kateri gave a small wave. "Your name's Kateri, right?" he asked, his voice having the same thick accent many of the others who spoke English had and she nodded.

"And you're Luis, correct?" At the nod, she held out her hand. "Nice to meet you. I was told to ask you about riding one of the horses?"

He nodded. "Yes. You know how to ride?"

"It's been a while but I used to ride a lot when I was younger. I'm pretty sure I can figure it out." she replied.

"Let's see if you can saddle one up right, then, as long as Alejandro goes with you this time, you can. I'm only having him go to make sure nothing happens. If you handle yourself and the horse well this time then there won't be a reason for a babysitter next time." he said with a joking smirk.

"Alright, fair enough." she replied. Thinking back, she was _pretty_ sure she remembered how to saddle a horse, but it _had_ been a very long time.

Following the other two out, Luis led her to a stall directly across from the little lobby. It was a bit bigger than the rest and used to store the equipment. Quickly pulling down the things she'd need, he handed off a saddle, saddle blanket and bridle to her. "Go ahead and pick one. Most of them are pretty tame."

Walking down the aisle, she glances at the different horses, now seeing name plaques on the stall doors with horses in them. A Paint named Genevieve, a strawberry roan named Dulce, a Thoroughbred named Ginger, but she passed many of them by until she came to one.

Turning a bit, she faced a large, black Friesian with a white streak in it's mane, the name _Phantom_ emblazoned on the brass plate. "This one."

Luis raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that one, miss? I know I said most of the horses are tame, but he's a bit rowdy."

But Kateri wasn't really one to back down from a challenge. In fact, after all the laid back weeks, she welcomed it. "No, I can do it."

Luis and Alejandro shared a skeptical glance, but Luis walked forward and unlatched the stall anyways. "Alright, but be careful, he might kick at you."

Nodding, she heaved all the gear over the stall door and took a few cautious steps towards the horse, one hand held out. Walking forward one slow step at a time until she was only a few inches away, she waited.

Phantom seemed to sway a bit as his weight shifted, but after a long moment, the horse leaned forward a bit and let his nose touch her hand.

Smiling, Kateri rubbed the horse's snout before stepping forward so that her own face was about an inch from the horse's, and then she let her forehead fall lightly onto the horse's nose. "See, you're not that bad." she said softly, still rubbing the horse's head. Stepping back, she slung the saddling gear off the door and hefted it onto one arm reaching back out with the other to lay it on the Friesian, letting it run along his body as she walked around his so the horse knew where she was and wouldn't panic.

The horse remained remarkably still, even the two men outside the stall were surprised at his lack of thrashing, but stayed quiet. Sometimes Phantom would allow people to saddle him without issue, and this seemed to be one of those times.

Kateri took one hand off the horse and used it to toss the saddle blanket onto his back, making sure it was on straight before carefully slinging the saddle into place. Phantom shuffled a bit but otherwise remained still.

Squatting down, she began to buckle the straps into place and adjust the stirrups, double checking it all once she was through to make sure everything was secure. "I did that right, yeah?" she asked, looking over at Luis, who was still watching her. Alejandro had gone to saddle up another horse for himself.

He only nodded thought. "You tied the knot there on the side backwards, but it'll still hold. Think you can get that bit in, though?" he asked, indicating the bridle that still hung over the stall door. Getting the saddle on tended to be the easy part, it was getting the bit in the horse's mouth that would be the more difficult task.

But Kateri didn't look remotely deterred as she grabbed it from the door, glancing over at the horse thoughtfully. "I don't suppose you have some honey or sugar, do you?"

Luis gave her a curious look. "There's a few sugar cubes, once in awhile we give a few to them."

"Can I have a couple?"

He left without a word, returning a couple minutes later with a few sugar cubes in a paper cup. He saw her trying anyways to get the bit in his mouth, but she couldn't even get his mouth open. Generally by this point the horse would toss his head around and stomp the ground, but he was as still as ever. Still, that did her little good if he would not open his mouth, because no bit meant no reins, which meant no steering.

"Thanks." she said, taking the offered cup. She just held one up to Phantom's mouth to start with, allowing the horse to take it to let him know she had them. After that, she broke one and rubbed the sugar on her fingers, very carefully sliding her thumb over his teeth so she wouldn't be bitten. The horse seemed to try and lick at her hand but still wouldn't let her put the bit in his mouth.

"If you need help with this, that's fine, he's stubborn about the bit." Luis offered. After all, he'd only said saddling the horse, which she'd done.

"So am I." She replied, crushing up a bit more of the broken sugar cube before dropping it in the crevices of the bit. "I'll clean this afterwards so it doesn't get sticky."

Though Luis doubted she'd need to, the house's mouth would make sure of that, he just nodded.

Holding up the bit once again, she tried to slid it past the horse's teeth. This time, however, Phantom let her slide it into his mouth, distracted by the sugar on the metal to worry about what she was doing. The rest of the bridle followed easily and she tossed the reins over his neck, Phantom smacking to try and get all the sugar off the metal in his mouth.

"There we go, that wasn't so hard, was it?" she asked quietly before turning to Luis. "Is there anything else I need to do?"

Slightly impressed with the girl's tactic, and that it had worked, he just shook his head. "No, that's everything. Alejandro's almost done saddling up Dulce, after that you can go."

Smiling, she turned, grabbing hold on the saddle, slipping one foot in a stirrup and mounting the horse. Despite the seven years it had been, it felt like she'd never stopped riding. Leaning forward, she ran a hand over Phantom's glossy neck, seeing that the streak in his mane was the only white coloring on his body, the rest being a glossy black.

As if on cue, the sound of clicking hooves came to her attention and Alejandro appeared on the strawberry roan. She was fairly tall as well but not quite as big as Phantom.

"Eh…good to go?" Alejandro asked, seeming unsure of his words.

Kateri grinned. "Thought you didn't speak any English?"

" _Poquito."_ He said. "I learn a bit from him." He nodded to Luis.

She grinned. "Okay. And _si_ , good to go."

Nodding, Alejandro kicked Dulce forward a bit, Kateri following behind after a few seconds.

Alejandro kept them at a slow pace for the first few minutes to allow her go get reacquainted with riding, but much like a bicycle, it didn't take her long to get her bearings. Once she'd had a few minutes to adjust to being on the horse and remembering how to control the animal, she found herself falling into a steady gallop easily.

" _Oi, Alejandro?"_ she called. " _Puedo realmente acelerar? Puedo manejarlo.(7)_ "

She'd expected to be rebuffed, but he only smiled and nodded.

Grin widening, she stood a bit in the stirrups so she wouldn't be bounced into oblivion and stroked the horse's neck. "C'mon, beautiful, let's see why they call you Phantom." She whispered, then gave the horse's side a solid kick.

(*)

"C'mon Doc, these are just getting insulting now." Rex complained. In his hands was a tiny field mouse, the last remainder of the EVO that had been wreaking havoc on the town. "I haven't had a real challenge since…" he trailed off, realizing that it had been the Jessup mission. Quickly covering it, he continued. "Geez, I don't even remember. I mean, what happened to the fun missions?"

Holiday didn't seem to notice the break in his words, giving a light shrug. "Most of the EVOs after the Curing Event have been small animals, Rex. Not a single human has turned since you cured everything, so I don't see any 'fun missions', as you call them, for a while."

She had her own theories about that as well. With Rex's recent information about Kateri's nanites writing their own coding to fill in the gaps, it got her thinking that other's may be doing the same. It was also far less prominent in smaller, less intelligent species, namely the ones that would turn EVO. She noticed a distinct pattern, that more rodents and small vermin would change than anything else and the further along in evolution the creature was, the fewer of them that turned there were.

Still, it was all just speculation, but it made sense and she and Caesar were exploring every facet of it for direct confirmation.

"Yeah, yeah." He said, but wasn't actually that upset about it. He had another, more important obligation, to keep him busy and honestly would prefer these shorter missions since they didn't keep him away as long. "So does that mean we're all wrapped up here?"

Holiday gave him a subtle smirk. "Eager to get back, hm?"

"I-no!" he said defensively, though any fool could see right through it. "And even if I was, she's sick! I mean, come on, I'm supposed to keep an eye on her, right?"

"Last I checked, that was a self assigned job." Holiday quipped. "Even White's agreed that she isn't much of a threat to us. She's been nothing but cooperative and even he has to admit that she doesn't need a babysitter." She gave him a soft, knowing smile. "But if it makes you feel better, I can promise _she's_ glad you're watching out for her, even if she doesn't act like it. I think you offer her the feeling that someone genuinely cares and that's really more than enough."

Rex smiled, content with the answer. "Then we'd better get going, right? Wouldn't want to disappoint M'Lady."

Holiday chuckled and shook her head.

(*)

When the small town near Abuela's village came into view, Rex's restlessness seemed to triple, the ship unable to move fast enough. Just before the were going to land, though, he saw something he didn't expect.

A short distance away, he saw a beautiful, glossy black horse in full gallop racing across the dirt, one streak of white whipping proudly in the mane that streamed away from it's neck. Atop the beast was a familiar figure that was easily just as strong and proud as the creature she rode.

Before that day, Rex hadn't known Kateri could ride horses that well, but it made perfect sense. She was raised on a lot of land and had horses of her own, which lead to the sight he saw now, the Native American girl standing in the stirrups while leaned down so she didn't bounce. Her hair was just back in a ponytail, but it swayed behind her from her speed as she was easily able to steer the horse. As they got closer, he could see the reins wound in just one hand, the other one remaining on the horse's neck.

Then, he watched as she shifted a bit before fully standing up in the stirrups, spreading out her arms against the wind. For a split second, a pang of worry shot through his body, but he brushed it away. He knew she wouldn't attempt something like that if she couldn't do it.

He then noticed someone he didn't recognize on another horse not too far behind her, this one just a bit smaller and lighter in color.

"If you paid more attention, you'd know we landed and you could stop drooling out the window." Six said in his usual monotone.

"What? Oh. Oops." Rex unhooked the seatbelt from across his chest, standing up with a sheepish grin. "So, uh, I guess I'll see you later?"

"How long do you plan to stay here?" the green suited man asked suddenly, turning a bit to face the teen.

"Uh...I don't know." he answered truthfully. "Either until Kateri's ready to leave or until we have to. I mean, I didn't really expect coming here to fix anything overnight, but honestly, I have no idea how long we'd be here for it to help."

Or rather, help enough. Being here _had_ helped her in more than one obvious way, anyone who'd been around her previously would be able to tell, but he wasn't stupid. There was a long way to go and he could only hope that being here would help _enough_.

Six seemed to accept this answer. "I trust you to do what you think is best, and what is right. I know it's not always easy to find a balance that gives you both, but I do believe you know what you're doing more than you give yourself credit for."

"Uh, thanks?" Rex said, confused by the statement.

The slightest hint of a smile played on the older man's lips. "Go on, Rex. She's waiting on you, and if there's one thing I _have_ learned that applies to all women, it's not to keep them waiting."

Smiling just a bit himself, Rex nodded and spun around, headed to the bay doors that were already open and waiting.

(*)

If she didn't let herself think too hard, Kateri could swear that she was flying. Air whistled past her ears and she could feel it whipping around her hair and clothes, but she kept her eyes closed regardless. Because, if she did, it was like she was soaring through the air instead of over the ground.

For a moment, she was a free as one could get, free of chain and burden alike.

"You have a funny way of getting rest when you're sick."

Her eyes slid open and she turned towards the low shout. Rex was flying just slightly above her, looking down at the girl in playful amusement.

"Technically the horse is doing most of the work." she called back with a grin.

Rex rolled his eyes but the grin remained. "Since when could you ride horses?"

She shrugged. "My parents had a couple when I was a kid. We lived on a good chunk of land so there was plenty of room."

Alejandro had pulled up beside her by then, waving hello to Rex. They exchanges a few words and Kateri quickly discovered that although Rex was relatively fluent in Spanish, his accent was awful and she had to fight back giggles.

Gently tugging the reins, she slowed Phantom into a steady canter. She noticed the horse didn't seem too bothered by the soft whir of the propellers on Rex's back.

"All you need now is the deerhide clothes and a feather in your hair and you would look like a stereotypical Native American." Rex joked, turning back to her.

"Every now and then I used to braid a feather into my hair for that reason." Kateri replied. "Just for fun." Glancing at her watch, she let out a soft sigh. "Guess I should head back. It's been about two hours since I left the barn."

She and Alejandro both turned the horses around, heading back to the big old barn with Rex trailing behind them.

Shadow fell over thier bodies once they were back inside the stables, and once Phantom was still, Kateri swung her leg over his back and slid to the ground. She quickly removed the saddle and saddle blanket, draping them over the stall door as she led the horse back into his stable by the bridle.

Luis, who had already been there to feed the horses, was speaking to Alejandro. After a moment, he turned to her. "He said you did a pretty good job. Long as you help a little with the grooming and cleaning, you can ride anytime you like. Just let me know when you do."

"Awesome, thanks!" she replied with a grin, slipping the bridle over the horse's head once she'd closed the stall door. She idly stroked the tuft of hair that fell between his eyes.

The older Hispanic gave a short nod before returning to his work.

"So I guess you're gonna spend more time here, yeah?" Rex asked.

"I hope so." she replied, still stroking the horse. "Honestly, after so long, I forgot how much I liked riding. It's really relaxing and doesn't wear you out like other sports."

"Hey, maybe you can teach me to ride." he suggested with a smile.

"Sure! I bet you'd take to it really easily, since you've had so much practice being thrown around on EVOs," she teased. "But seriously, it's not that hard, it just takes a bit of practice."

After returning the equipment to it's place, they headed back to the main area of the compound, since Kateri reluctantly admitted that, _even though_ she'd said it was easy and relaxing, the speed and force of which she'd been riding had made her nauseous and a bit lightheaded and Rex "asked" her to go lay down.

"Seriously, stop fussing, I'm fine, I-"

"Kateri, I swear, if you tell me _one more time_ that you've dealt with worse in really bad situations, I'm literally going to lock you in your room and you can't come out until you're one hundred percent better." Rex cut in. She gave him a sheepish look.

"I'm sorry, it's just still _really_ weird for people to be so fussy over my health." _No one's ever given a damn as long as I could do my job._ She didn't have to say it, but they both knew it.

"Well, too bad. I am and I'm not gonna stop." he replied stubbornly.

A small smile played on her lips and she looked at the ground as a light blush crept over her face, her chest growing warm. Since she was still a bit flushed from being in the sun so long, she didn't think Rex would notice.

"Hey wait." he stopped her and grabbed her arm. His hands slid to lightly cup her cheeks and he brushed her bangs out of the way. Then, he surprised her and tilted her face to the light, scrutinizing her cheeks. "Oh my god, you have _freckles._ "

Thinking he was going to do something else, Kateri's brows furrowed and she pushed his hands off. "Shut up and leave my freckles alone. I get them when I spend a lot of time in the sun, which is literally unavoidable since that's all anything is here."

Rex just grinned. "They're cute."

"Shut _up_."

(*)

An hour later, Kateri was curled up in bed with a glass of water on the bedside table and a trash can beside the bed, unable to sleep. The nausea had not let up whatsoever, but she was no longer lightheaded. She informed Rex that she refused to eat for the rest of the day. He left her alone about it strictly on the ground that if she ate she was certain it wouldn't stay down for more than a few minutes. Rex had no desire to be in the line of fire should that happen and left it alone as long as she drank a lot of water.

Now though, she was staring blankly at a wall, far more agitated than she felt she should be.

"I'd accept the sweet embrace of death right now." she muttured.

"C'mon, don't be such a downer."

"Please go away."

"Man, Pyra's right, you are awfully grouchy."

"Hey Abe?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut the hell up."

Abe crossed his arms, face falling into a mock pout. "Y'know, you could be a little nicer. Illusions have feelings too you know."

Kateri rolled her eyes, but sat up anyways, looking down to where he sat crossed legged at the end of her bed. She tried to ignore the fact that she couldn't feel the slant where his weight should be. "Like I told Salem, it's not that I don't miss you guys, but I'm literally talking to hallucinations. I'd be hauled off to a nut box and tied up for this kind of shit."

He just lifted one shoulder and let it fall in reply. "Doesn't change much, though. Not unless you can accept the facts and move on."

"Name one time, _one time_ , I ever left any of you without a leg to stand out without seeing it through myself to make sure you were alright." she asked flatly.

He didn't answer.

"That's what I thought. So, unless you have any advice to not feel like I'm about to puke, can you just g-" she stopped and her eyes grew wide. Pain rocketed through her head, quickly lacing her whole body and she ground her teeth, remaining silent as her whole body went rigid. "I...I c-can't…"

"It's the nanites." Abe said, remaining uncomfortably calm. But then again, there was nothing he'd be able to do and she knew that. But, as part of her subconscious mind, he could tell her things her conscious mind couldn't. "Someone is trying to connect to them."

But as soon as he said it, she knew he was right. The pain was familiar, not unlike when her nanites had first been altered. Then, the entire sensation changed, her whole body becoming cold. Her muscles locked up, before beginning to tighten and loosen of their own accord.

Then, to her horror, she began to _move_ with no control of her own body.

"Oh m-my god...Abe...w-what's happen-ning…?" she stuttered out, having a hard time even speaking.

"Dunno. Kinda looks like they're trying to control you or something." he replied, sounding considerably worried, but he made no attempt to move.

Her legs began to unfold and slipped off the side of the bed, forcing her to rise on _very_ unsteady legs. Her nausea increased tenfold and it was all she could do not to retch up the water in her system. Every part of her body shook violently, every nerve radiating cold pain, every _second_ stretching on for hours and her body tried to stand while her mind spun with fear.

"I-Is there a w-way to make it stop?" she asked, sweat beading up along her forehead, a single drop sliding down her nose.

Abe gave a helpless shrug. "I don't know. You don't, so I don't."

Despite the situation, a small grin found its way onto her lips. "I'm sure that'd be way too e-easy of a solution…" she rasped.

"It's not like any part of our lives had ever been easy." said the blond, his sharp blue eyes watching her every move, but he never attempted to move.

Suddenly, her body jerked up into an unsteady standing position and her arm slung back. She wasn't exactly sure what it was supposed to do, because it wasn't doing much besides flailing. Squeezing her eyes shut, she channeled all her focus to stilling her body. More sweat dripped down her face and her teeth dug into her bottom lip.

Then, after an agonizingly long moment, her body obeyed.

Gasping, she fell to her hands and knees, panting heavily as the pain slowly but surely began to subside.

Leaning back, she draped her arms over her knees and stared at the floor between her legs just trying to catch her breath. Wiping at the sweat on her face, her eyebrow rose a bit to see blood on the back of her hand as well.

"Your nose is bleeding." Abe said from behind her, where he couldn't possibly have seen her. He still watched her with wary eyes, but this time he stood and walked over to where she sat, dropping to the floor as well in front of her. "Not surprising, though."

"I should have known this wouldn't last long." she said softly, still staring at the smear of blood. "I should have known leaving a loose end would come back to haunt me."

"Don't go alone."

She didn't have to be told to know what he was talking about. Of course not, it had just passed through her own mind moments before he spoke. "I refuse to bring him into my problems again. I'm not going to let him get hurt."

"That's your pride talking and listening to it might just get you killed." Abe replied.

"Then it is what it is. He'll move on, everyone does." she replied.

"Right, just like you have, which is why this conversation is happening." Abe retorted with a narrowed gaze. She didn't have a reply. "Don't be stupid and try to do this alone."

"You can't tell me what to do."

"I can try. Even you know you shouldn't try something like that without help, or I wouldn't have said anything."

"Last time I asked for help, it got three of my closest friends badly hurt." she argued. Of course they were, why else wouldn't they have contacted her by now? Providence had reached the bottom most levels of the wreckage and there were still no bodies for any of them and they had been of the top floor.

"But it took all of us to succeed." the blue eyed boy countered.

"This is different." She shook her head. "Before, over a dozen people were at stake in a place that was equipped to kill you if you sneezed in the wrong direction. It's obvious that I'm the target, so it's just me against them."

She used the hem of her shirt to wipe away the last of the blood before forcing herself to stand, her body feeling incredibly tired and drained. "I'm going to sleep. I'll see you...I dunno, whenever you decide to show up next."

Abe remained quiet, staying on the floor as she slipped back into bed. Within minutes, she fell into a fitful sleep.

(1)Who are you?

(2)Oh, um, my name is Kateri. You're Alejandro, right?

(3)Ah, you're Rex's friend, right? Nice to meet you.

(4)Likewise. Someone told me your father manages the stables. Do you think I could talk to him about riding one of the horses?

(5)Of course! Come with me, I'll take you to him.

(6)Hey dad, this is the girl Rex brought with him. She's asking about riding one of the horses.

(7)Can I speed up? I can handle it.

 **Some of the Spanish is done through the monstrosity that is Google Traslate(most of the longer phrases), but some of it was just done with my own basic knowledge. Also, keep an eye out for Kateri speaking in Spanish in general, I have some funny things planned. Her Spanish is far from perfect, and I have plans to call some attention to it.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, though, even though I really don't. It's not my best, but it's necessary to set some things up for later.**

 **Please tell me your thoughts on what you think is happening!**


	22. Unsteady

**Back again! Sooner than I expected, to be honest, but I'm getting the ball rolling pretty well for the last arc, so I'm hoping to get them out faster. I've been working so much the last few weeks between my two jobs since Easter is Sunday, but my shifts are slowing down so I'm hoping to have more time on my hands. Next week I don't have nearly as many shifts at the craft store I work at and I'm not planning to pick any up and the restaurant to just give myself a break from how much I've been working, so I'm hoping to get some art done too.**

 **Some interesting things happen here!**

When Kateri awoke, the sky was still dark. A quick glance at her watch told her that it was just after four in the morning, but within minutes of opening her eyes she knew that she wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon.

 _Great, three hours of sleep. Definitely ready to go get the day._

Sighing, she just sat up and slipped out of bed, a wave of nausea passing over her as she stood up too fast. "Yep...definitely didn't miss that."

Digging clean clothes out of her backpack, she quietly made her way out of her room and down the hall to take a shower. Her fever had kicked back up again and she had a light film over her skin that she wanted to wash away. The stone beneath her bare feet were cool, her stride making no sound as she padded down the corridor.

She pushed the door open, just leaving the light off as the moonlight through the window allowed her to see well enough. Leaving her clothes on the counter, she tossed her towel over the top of one of the stall doors before slipping inside.

After a few minutes, she found herself just standing under the stream of warm water, her mind running through what has happened the night before.

 _I couldn't control my own body. Does that mean Jessup can still control me? Then how was I able to fight it? How close are they if they can do this?_

She didn't have any answers for the countless questions that raced through her mind, and part of her couldn't even decide if she wanted them. But a bigger part knew that it really didn't matter if she wanted them, she _needed_ them if she was ever going to finally be done with all this and even have a chance at having some kind of normal life.

A harsh shock up her arm snapped her out of her daze, as her anxiety caused a small spark to form, racing up her wet forearm before it had a chance to wink out. She idly rubbed the faint burn for a moment before pushing away the thoughts as best as she could.

She scrubbed her body and hair as quickly as she could, suddenly wanting to be out of the shower as quickly as possible. An irrational sense of nervousness had come over her and the quiet darkness was making her edgy.

The water dripped eerily for about a minute after she turned it off, her towel wrapped securely around her body as she dried her skin. Wrapping it around her hair, she pulled on her clothes, goosebumps rising on her arms as a chill set in despite her fever. She picked up a brush to pick through her hair when-

"You know, fear of the dark is childish and irrational."

Kateri had to suppress what would have been a soft squeal at the voice behind her, the brush slipping through her fingers and clattering to the floor. She whipped around, eyes wide like a caged animal, to see Ema standing there.

"Jesus fuck, Ema, you scared the hell out of me." she hissed, stooping down to retrieve the brush from the ground.

"I realize that, which is absolutely ridiculous. You are being paranoid over nothing." the blond stated flatly.

"Well excuse me if I'm not a little ball of sunshine after finding out my dickbag employers actually can use me like a marionette doll and I'm running on three hours of sleep. I'm fairly sure anyone would be a little shaken up." Kateri retorted, turning back to the mirror as she began to pull the brush through her wet hair.

"I can imagine, it would be unhealthy if you weren't, but that has nothing to do with being afraid of the dark." said the genius, taking a few steps forward and hopping lightly onto the edge of the counter.

"I'm not afraid of the dark." replied the Native American girl, still refusing to look at her.

Ema just shrugged. "So what are you going to do?"

"No clue." came the short reply.

"Well you might just have to figure it out. I know you, Arrow, you aren't the patient type. You won't sit around and wait for this to keep happening." Ema said, feet swinging idly.

"As soon as I figure out what _this_ is, then I'll make a plan, but for the time being I'm gonna try to just get my shit together." the Navajo girl replied, setting the brush onto the counter and separating her hair into three pieces, quickly weaving them together.

"I know you don't want me around, so I won't stay long." Ema said, voice quiet. "But for your own sake I do hope you tell Rex what's going on. You know you can trust him."

Her eyes stayed on the mirror as she tied off the end of the braid, the only reflection she could see being her own.

"Yeah, I know."

(*)

Rex squinted against the sun, letting out a soft groan as he raised a hand to block the gap in the curtains. After the first day, he didn't even bother to set an alarm anymore, the sun worked just as well since almost everyone was an early riser. Since he definitely was not, he was just fine with only having one nuisance in the morning than both the obnoxious alarm and the light in his eyes.

Letting out a soft whine, he sat up, the sheets bunching around his waist as he rubbed at one eye. Opening his mouth into a wide yawn, his jaw made a soft pop and he dragged himself from the bed. More pops sounded as the Latino stretched his arms over his head and arched his back, even tilting his head so his neck clicked. Clumsily shuffling through his duffel bag, he pulled a shirt over his head and combed through his hair with his fingers. Since he showered the night before, it wouldn't stay back in it's usual spiked fashion, so he just shrugged and left the fringe alone, the tips just touching his eyebrows.

Walking across the room, he knocked softly on the door to Kateri's, slowly pushing the door open after a few moments of silence. Peering inside, he saw the bed neatly made and empty, the rest of the room quiet.

He knew the girl was usually up early as well, but she'd always been in the room. He was too tired to think much of it, though. Shuffling out of his room, he wandered towards the kitchen where he was _supposed_ to help with breakfast. After the last time, though, he got the feeling Marianne wouldn't be letting him do much. He'd managed to burn three trays of biscuits before she'd literally made him sit on a stool until everything was finished.

Just before he opened the door, he heard the sound of a familiar musical laugh, and he pushed them aside to see Kateri and Acacia in the kitchen, coffee in hand. Kateri was sitting on an empty space on the counter and Acacia leaned against it, the short girl's hair wrapped up in a bun. A couple of other people milled around but the kitchen was mainly empty.

"C'mon, it was a honest mistake!" Kateri said, still giggling.

"Yeah, no kidding. When you were talking to my grandmother, I thought you actually had pretty good Spanish and you were just being humble, but no, you were completely right." Acacia replied with a snort.

"Right about what?"

"Not once but twice has she mixed up her words in Spanish and it's been pretty hilarious." Acacia told him. "The first time she asked for orange juice with octopus in it. Then the next time I'm pretty sure she was just trying to say shit, because she knew she messed up the word."

"God I felt so stupid, even my swear was messed up. Seriously, my friend can swear in like fourteen languages, it can't be that hard." Kateri said, raising the cup to her lips.

"Sounds like a cool friend, bet she's fun."

The cup faltered just as it touched her mouth. "Y-Yeah, she...was." she said quietly, quickly looking over at Rex. "But yeah, I got up early so I just wandered around a bit. The light was on in here, so I stuck around."

Acacia nodded behind her own mug. "Yeah, the first twenty or so minutes are coffee time so everyone has a chance to wake up. Apparently they are also Spanish lesson time for Kate."

The short girl had taken to the nickname in place of Kateri's full name. "Yeah well, give me a break, I learned more formal Spanish, and they sound almost exactly the same. I told you it wasn't perfect."

"Ain't that the truth."

Rex scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'm sure it's still better than mine, so don't feel too bad."

Kateri and Acacia both laughed. As far as Kateri knew, Rex understood Spanish well enough, but Caesar had told her that whenever he tried to speak it, it sounded awful.

All three teens turned at the sound of rapid fire Spanish, coming from Marianne. Acacia was the only one who could actually understand her. "Guess it's time to start making the food. Gotta feed all these hungry heathens."

Abuela's eyes narrowed at Rex, her hands on her hips. " _Ahora, no quiero que arruines mi comida otra vez."_

"Ah, he's not going to ruin anything Grandma. He can just help with the prep work." Acacia said.

The older woman humphed but didn't say anything further.

Kateri glanced back at the sheepish looking Latino, then reached up and lightly ruffled his hair. It was softer than she'd expected. "Looks like you left the porcupine at home."

"Yeah, didn't feel like messing with it." he replied.

A hint of a smile played on her lips. "It's a nice change. I like it."

Then, she pulled her hand back and followed Acacia, leaving Rex standing with tingles running down the back of his neck.

(*)

Rex was stuck on cleanup duty as well, so after breakfast, Kateri slipped away to find a quiet spot away from prying eyes.

Standing against the wall, Kateri brought her hands up level with her eyes, watching carefully as she began to push at the energy within her body. Her fingers began to tingle and itch as a low current began. Bracing herself, she pushed a bit more, seeing a soft white glow beneath her skin for a split second before the electricity appeared over her skin with a painful sting, but it wasn't unbearable by any means.

Concentrating on holding the power at it's current level, she tried touching her hands together. There was a slight ripple in the energy as the thin bolts began to merge, waving lightly over her hands. She then pulled them slightly apart, trying to hold the bolts in place between her hands. Then, something unexpected happened.

The burning pain vanished, but the electricity stayed.

Hey eyes widened, but she held her concentration. Curious, she pushed a bit more. The bolts got thicker, but she still couldn't feel it. Might as well push her luck and see how far-

She gasped and her back slammed into the wall she hadn't realized she'd stepped away from. Her hands were numb from where her concentration had slipped and the electricity had lashed back.

"Holy shit…" she breathed, nudging her bangs from her face. She realized that she'd broken out in a light sweat as a wave of light headed nausea passed over her. Although, she honestly couldn't have cared less about that.

She could control the electricity, and _without_ hurting herself.

Despite the fading burn, she found herself smiling. She could learn to control it. She could control her nanites.

"Does this make me an EVO too?" she wondered aloud. A question Holiday or Caesar would likely answer for her, but right then, she _really_ didn't care.

She pushed off the wall, then stumbled a few steps as her head began to pound. She stood still a moment as the throbbing receded enough for her to focus.

This time walking a bit more slowly, she set off again, this time to find Rex. The archer was fairly certain this was the type of thing she should be telling him.

She let one hand trail along the wall but her pace grew more and more brisk until she was stuck between an awkward jog and fast-walk.

She just barely caught him leaving the kitchen, yelping as another unseen person flicked a towel at him.

"Rex!" she called, before he could run back in. His head snapped around at the sound of his name, quickly locating her. He must have seen the excitement in her soft green eyes, because he drew back from the other person, someone Kateri didn't recognize, and made his way to her.

"What's up?" he asked, curiosity sparked.

"A lot is up, holy hell Rex." she said in a rush, grabbing his arm. "Let's go back to your room, I have something I need to show you, but not out here."

"Uh, okay?" he replied, letting himself be dragged off. Whatever she was so worked up about must have been pretty damn important for the way she was acting.

She all but shoved the Hispanic teen inside, before pulling the door shut and standing with her back against it, teeth clamped down on her lip.

"Wanna explain what's going on, now that I'm imprisoned in my bedroom?" he asked.

"Just...watch." was all she said, before holding up her hands. They were spread flat and parallel with her palms facing each other. Then, for the slightest second, her fingertips held a soft white glow, then electricity began to roll over her hands. There was a small flinch as the appearance of it caught her by surprise, but she managed to reign it in quickly.

"Okay, you have electricity." Rex observed, somewhat tense under the guise she was allowing herself to be shocked by a low current.

"Yes, but I can't actually feel it. It isn't hurting me." she said, eyes still trained carefully on the waving lines. "I'm not completely sure how, but once I get it going, I can keep it from conducting through my body."

Rex's eyes widened. "Wait...are you for real? It's not shocking you?"

"It did for a split second at first, but right now, no." she replied. "As long as I concentrate and keep the power level low, I can control it."

After a moment, it just faded and her arms dropped to her sides. "I think I'm learning how to control my own nanites. Does that make me an EVO?" she asked, remembering her own question from earlier.

"Uh, I guess?" He replied, sounding as sure as a blind man looking up GPS coordinates. "I mean, that's technically what I do and I'm considered an EVO. All it means is that your nanites are active, if we're going completely off technicalities."

"So, I've actually been an EVO ever since they first got messed with?" she asked.

He shrugged. "They weren't really active then, except in short bursts, and I don't think they're active the same way they normally are, but there isn't really anything else to call it."

Kateri made a noncommittal noise. "I don't honestly care what you call it. I'm still stuck on the fact _I can control it_. It's kinda amazing to know I have genuine control over some aspect of my life."

Rex just let out a soft chuckle. "Totally get what you mean. Maybe once we go back, Holiday can see if they'll respond better to the equipment. I know mine have messed with it more than once, but they always found a way around it."

"Yeah, maybe…" she trailed off and he saw her face get slightly paler. "Um, I'mgonnaberightback!"

"Wait, what-?" he raised a curious eyebrow as she bolted from the room, the back of her hand pressed to her mouth. Jogging forward, he peered out the door just in time to see her dart into the bathroom.

After a moment he realized she probably got sick.

He stood awkwardly next to his door to wait for her to return, unsure of what else to do. A few minutes later, she emerged, moving much more slowly, brushing back stray hair with one hand. She was still pale, but the color seemed to be returning to her face.

"Sorry." she muttered, blushing. "Not gonna lie, it made me a little nauseous last time but I didn't think I'd actually throw up."

"You don't actually have to apologize for being sick, it happens." he said, raising a hand to her forehead. He was met with burning hot skin. "That being said, I want you to take it easy, and I mean that. I'm pretty sure you have the flu, you're way too hot for it to just be a cold."

Her face twisted into what he could only describe as a slight pout. "Seriously, I'm fine, I don't even feel sick now."

"Aside from the fact you just threw up what little food you've eaten and feel like the top of a stove." he deadpanned. "If you don't give yourself a chance to get better, you're not going to. Not to mention I'd _never_ live it down if you got pneumonia on my watch."

"Oh, so it's so you don't get in trouble with Rebecca?" Kateri teased. She had become used to referring to Holiday by her first name, since that was how the doctor had introduced herself. She'd encouraged Kateri to call her that to help her feel more comfortable in the beginning, and it had stuck.

"A small part, yeah, but I don't really want you getting sicker just because you think you need to put on a brave face. People get sick. You're human, it happens." he said.

She let out a soft sigh, but didn't argue. They'd chased this point in circles, and there was no real point in doing it again. "I can only promise to try. I don't like to sit around and feel useless."

If there was one thing Kateri couldn't stand, it was being coddled.

"I get that, believe me, but it would be better." Rex placed his hands lightly on her upper arms. "I'm just trying to make sure you're alright."

And with that, the last of the willpower he'd been picking away at crumbled. "...fine."

He was sure it would be a bit harder than that, but at the moment, he was fairly sure it was the best he'd get. "Don't think I won't hold you to it."

Her lips curled into a small smile. "I'd be worried of you didn't."

On an impulse, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead, inhaling the scent of light citrus from the oil she used for her bow and something dark and warm that was entirely Kateri, amber maybe. "Now, _please_ try to sleep for a while. I'd bet you didn't sleep much last night and I think you could use it."

While the dark circles were hidden away under a smooth layer of concealer, she couldn't use makeup to hide the tired look in her eyes or the slight bags beneath them.

"Yeah, I was actually planning on it anyways, believe it or not." she replied, the soft smile not leaving her face after the kiss.

"Good, you need it." he stepped back, letting her slip into the door leading to her own room.

(*)

Her breath came in heavy pants as she pressed against a wall, several large chips missing from the plaster, leaving a few chalky white streaks on her jacket. Reaching back, she drew an arrow from her quickly emptying quiver, the tip steel and shiny, glinting dangerously in the low light.

" _Run all you want, girl, but you know we'll catch you…_ " a voice echoed. One second it was behind her, the next to her left. She wasn't sure where, exactly, it was coming from. Taking a deep breath, she whipped around the corner, arrow drawn back as she scanned the area warily.

"If you're so sure, then why don't you come out and get me? Or are you too chicken shit to do your own dirty work?" she shouted.

" _How precious it is you think you can goad us like that."_ said a deeper voice, this one sounding male, with a thick German accent. " _Such a stupid child_."

"A 'stupid child' who was one of your youngest active agents and was training others before I was sixteen. A 'stupid child' who took on some of the most covert, classified missions you had to offer and completed most of them without a single error. Clearly you thought so little of me."

" _Oh no my dear, you're mistaken. There is no question in your skills. But your common sense could certainly use some work._ " replied the first voice.

"Like hell I'd ever lift a finger for any of you lying sons of bitches again." she hissed. Time and time again, she'd been assured her targets were bad people. Murderers, terrorists, criminals as bad as they came. She wasn't some assassin, she was a vigilante taking justice into her own hands where the law failed. She was working towards a plethora of biological miracles that could change the world.

She took the lies they fed from a spoon.

It made her sick that she'd believed them, _defended_ them. Assuring people that they weren't malicious, that they didn't hurt anyone. Something she'd never _fully_ believed, what with her parents being held captive, but she had wanted to believe it. But after the day they stole the drives with all the information on the underground project, her hollow self-assurances no longer had a leg to stand on. Doubt riddled her mind from every single kill assignment, wondering what parts of their files had been lies. Wondering how many of the details of their criminal history had been false to justify why she was sent to eliminate them.

"But that's where you're wrong, Miss Blackfeather." a smooth voice said, and Kateri turned to see Elrich standing before her, with the same calculated stare and cold smile. "Your defiance is truly admirable, most wouldn't have the courage for such a thing. But even so, the choice isn't yours to make."

Just then, Kateri's entire body went rigid and a horrifyingly familiar sensation washed over her. She tried to fire the arrow in her grip a the woman, but just before she released it, her body jerked, sending her several feet off her mark.

"You seem to have forgotten, _we own you_."

Kateri let out a sharp gasp, her hair flying around as she bolted upright, her breath coming in thick pants. Looking down, she flexed her hands, taking far too much comfort in the fact that she could dictate her actions. No one should ever be _relieved_ they were capable of controlling their own body.

Taking a deep breath, she scooped her hair back and wrapped a hair tie around it to get the loose strands out of her face. For a few minutes, she just sat in silence, trying to reign in her breathing and calm down enough she couldn't hear her own heart pounding away.

As the time ticked away, she couldn't shake away the unease. Ema's words came back to her as she glanced around the room, unable to push away the feeling that she was being watched. She knew it sounded ridiculous, but there it was.

Even as a child, she'd never feared the dark. Quite the opposite, actually. She'd learned that the dark could almost have it's own magic if one was bold enough to seek it out. It was in the dark that the stars would shine the brightest, where cool shadows would evoke peace. The dark was quiet and calm, simply hiding mysteries that were just waiting to be discovered.

But now, the only thing she could think was that the inky shadows were hiding something else, lurking just beyond her vision and waiting until she had her back turned.

Her adrenaline spiked at a soft whistle, and she mentally chided herself when she realized it was just the wind blowing around the old window. Her eyes wandered to the door across from her bed that led to Rex's, closed and silent. Her face warmed at even the notion of running to someone else like a frightened child over needless paranoia of the dark.

Once again, she knew sleep was going to elude her, so she slid out of bed, grabbing a jacket and pushing it to the gap under the door connecting her and Rex's rooms before turning on the light. She didn't want to wake him up and hoped it would be enough to block the light.

Sitting on the rug that lay between her bed and the window, she slid her bow out from underneath the bed and dug a small black bag out of her backpack. With practiced movements, she began to take the weapon apart, unzipping the case to reveal tools for cleaning it. It had been a while since she'd really cleaned it, and spilling the oil for the joints all over her clothes the previous day had reminded her that she should do it at some point.

Unlocking the joints that would collapse it down, the string went slack and she took it off before beginning to disassemble it entirely, using a tiny brush and a cleaning solution to pick away at the grime that had begun to build.

"Think I could remember how to put it together this time?"

Surprisingly, the voice didn't startle her at all.

"Not a chance in hell. I had to completely take it apart again and start over the last time." Kateri replied, casting a glance over her shoulder to the petite auburnette sitting on her bed.

"Hey, if you know how to put it together, then there's no reason why I shouldn't. I mean, I'm completely in your head, so I have the knowledge at my fingertips." Salem retorted.

"Y'know, you tease me more than anyone over the fact you're a hallucination. You have no shame whatsoever in pointing it out." Kateri observed.

"I have no shame in anything I say, my mouth hasn't had a filter since…" she trailed off, and Kateri had the feeling she knew why. Salem claimed to have no memory before she was taken, which was around when she was thirteen. Of course, it could also be because Kateri didn't know the answer either, so obviously this Salem wouldn't. "Anyways, I've always had a big mouth and I see no reason to stop now. Especially since I can say literally anything and it doesn't matter because no one but you can hear it? Right Grumpy Ass?" She shouted the last part.

Kateri had to resist the urge to facepalm as the ran she little cleaning brush in the grooves where the string sat. "I never got why you called him that. Grumpy is the last thing he is. If anything, he acts like a puppy."

"Well, one, he acted like it when we first met, and two, calling him 'Puppy' would be super weird, even for me." Salem replied. "Besides, it's more fun when they make less sense."

"Oh, so is that why you're the self proclaimed fun one? Because you never make any sense at all?" Kateri smirked.

"You got that damn right."

Kateri laughed. "My god, Salem, how did we ever end up friends?"

"Because you love me-"

"Who are you talking to?"

Kateri's eyes snapped to the door facing her bed, freezing as she stared at a very tired and very confused looking Rex. The door was only partially open from where her jacket had gotten stuck beneath it. She glanced back to her bed, where, much to her surprise, Salem still sat, looking equally as startled.

"Better answer carefully unless you want a one way trip to the nuthouse." she said softly.

Kateri grimaced. Nuthouse? Not likely, but she knew she'd just raised several red flags.

Rex's gaze had followed her own, and he wormed through the gap in the door before pushing it closed. "Uh, a couple questions."

Kateri closed her eyes. "Yeah, I figured."

"One, why is your jacket in front of the door?"

"Just to block the light. I couldn't sleep and I didn't want to wake you up." Easy enough.

"Okay. Two." He glanced at the seemingly empty bed once again. "Why did it sound like you were talking to Salem?"

Her first instinct was to lie, but she knew she shouldn't, partly because he deserved the truth and partially because she knew she'd get caught anyways.

"Just tell him." Salem said. "The worst that would happen is he'll be upset you didn't sooner."

"Kateri?" Rex's voice cut through the pyro's.

"Because...Because, I was." she finally said, eyes sliding to the ground.

Rex raised a brow, not quite catching on. "Wait, is...is she actually _here_?"

"Yes I am. 'Sup, Grumpy Ass."

Kateri gave a humorless chuckle. "Only to me."

The penny finally dropped, and confusion, then shock, then an awkward combination of pity and worry passed over his face within a few moments. "Oh."

"Yeah."

Even Salem was silent for a few minutes.

"So, um, is she...y'know, _still_ here?" he asked carefully.

Kateri let out a sigh. "Yeah. Kinda surprised, they usually disappear once someone else shows up."

"They?"

She nodded. "I see all three of them. Usually Salem and Abe, but Ema's been there a few times."

He sat on the floor across from her, carefully stepping around the parts of her bow. "Does the Doc know?"

"No. No one does, except you. I kinda hopes they'd just go away, that it was from my shit sleep." she replied, still refusing to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry, I know I should have told someone."

"Yeah, you should have." His voice was devoid of any accusation, simply making a statement. "Kateri, look at me."

Reluctantly, she brought her green eyes to his brown ones.

"I'm not upset. If anything, I'm worried that you've been hallucinating d-missing people for-how long?"

"Um...maybe a couple months? A little before Christmas. Haven't exactly kept a calendar of my mental health issues." she replied, guilt creeping into her tone over how long she'd hidden it.

Rex was quiet for another moment before speaking. "Honestly, I don't think there's much I or anyone else can do. Maybe just let me know when it happens?"

"Yeah...I can do that." she finally said. "I know I should tell Holiday, but…"

"You need to tell her, but for now I won't say anything." Rex told her when she didn't continue. "For the time being I'm just glad you told me. We can worry about it later."

He didn't want to wait, but he also knew it would do no good to push her.

"Alright." She sighed, fiddling with her hair. "Go to sleep, I didn't mean to wake you up." she could see a protest forming on his lips. "Seriously, I'll be fine. Once I finish what I'm doing, I'll go back to bed too, I promise."

He gave a her a long look, but eventually conceded. "Okay. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight Kateri."

"Goodnight Rex."

 **Yes, she** ** _finally_** **told Rex about the hallucinations. Though he seemed pretty tame on the outside, I promise he was panicking on the inside. Boi was just tired and rolled with it. Also, I swear there is a point to the hallucinations, too, they do have a greater purpose later.**

 **I hope everyone liked it, please leave a review and tell me what you think! I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**


	23. I'm Not An Angel

**Back with another update! Though I know there's still a good few weeks in between each update, I feel like I'm getting better with it. I was talking to a co-worker about some details with the plot of the ending, and he actually ended up being a wealth of knowledge(not gonna share what kind of knowledge yet though. Spoilers;D), and I think I've gotten the end of it pretty much figured out. I knew what direction I wanted it to go in, but honestly, how I write, is I just have a general idea of what I want and write it out as I go along. Yeah, this can lead to a lot of disjointed-ness in my stories, but I'm honestly not writing them going after Nobel Prize. I've tried outlining chapters before, but I never stick to them, so I usually just plan out key points and a few details I want and fill in gaps as I go along. It's part of what keeps writing fun for me, because it's usually just as much a surprise for me as it is for you(I hope this can also explain how it gets kinda rambley sometimes, that's literally me figuring shit out for myself, but I am working on that because I don't like how much that paints a blunt picture for you guys).**

 ***looks at AN* bOI, I'm sorry, you can honestly skip most of that. TL;DR, literally everything I write is me making shit up as I go along, which you can probably tell.**

 **EDIT: Forgot to mention before, I did start up a Twitter account for my writing, for just general updates on what I'm working on and when. I don't use Twitter super often, but I use it enough to let people know I'm alive and that my stories aren't dead yet.**

 **Anyways, I'll hush and let y'all read the chapter.**

Kateri managed somewhat decent sleep after she went back to bed, devoid of dreams or nightmares alike, and woke up feeling less drained than usual.

She still felt like she would throw up if she even looked like a saltine, but at least she didn't feel like she would pass out from exhaustion right after. Glancing up, she saw she had about an hour before breakfast.

She got dressed quickly, wanting to at least wiggle in a bit of shooting before breakfast, if nothing else to help her relax a little. After winding her hair into a braid, she grabbed her bow and quiver before slipping out of her room.

The early morning air was cool, feeling refreshing against her slightly flushed skin. Her fever had begun to fluctuate a bit, breaking for a few hours before starting back up again. She'd borrowed a thermometer from the clinic to keep track of it but so far the highest it had gotten was one hundred point two so she wasn't altogether too worried.

Kateri arrived at a familiar clearing, the tree she normally shot had peppered with patches of missing bark where her arrows had chipped away at it. Pulling one out, she ran her left pinky along the blade until she felt the light bite of the metal. It took more pressure than she knew it should, and made a mental note to pull out her flint stone at some point to sharpen them.

Setting a reminder on her phone for ten minutes before she was supposed to be back, she nocked the arrow in her hand and drew it back, letting out a silent breath as she let it fly.

It hit one of the quarter sized chips with ease and she smiled to herself. Thought she was _more_ than aware the the destruction she was capable of with a bow, something about the simple point and shoot was calming like little else was. The tense flax of the string, the smooth shaft of the arrow, the course feathers of the fletch...it was all so familiar to her and brought a stillness to her mind that was so peaceful.

Drawing another, she instead aimed for a narrow branch only barely visible between two thicker ones, aiming for less than a second before releasing it. It thunked through the branch and for a moment she thought it would fly through entirely, but it stopped about an inch before the fletch.

Just as she pulled back another, a wave of light headed dizziness hit her and her vision began to blur. She blinked a few times as she lowered her bow, swaying on her feet before…

(*)

Rex's usual sun alarm woke him up about fifteen minutes before breakfast. Opening his mouth in a wide yawn, he went through his usual routine of stretching and popping before actually getting out of bed. Pulling on some clothes, he ran a hand through his hair, glaring at his bed head before pulling his goggles over it. It covered...most of it. Shrugging, he grabbed his jacket before heading to the door that led to Kateri's room.

Knocking a few times, he was met with silence, He pushed the door open slowly, poking his head inside to see it was empty. He didn't think much of it, though, he knew she was usually up before he was.

Leaving his own room, he headed towards the kitchen where she'd usually stop to have coffee with Acacia. The archer had taken to the short Hispanic girl and her snarky wit.

Pushing open the double doors, he saw everyone moving quickly as the food was being scooped into various dishes and platters to be served.

Watching the people, he managed to find the short girl, though he didn't see Kateri anywhere. It took a few attempts to actually be able to get to her, because she was not only small, but fast, but he finally managed to stop her for a few seconds.

"Wha-oh, hey Rex, what's up?" she asked, two trays balanced on each hand, both looking bigger than her.

"I just wanted to ask if you've seen Kateri." he said.

"Not today. She usually stops by, but she wasn't here this morning." He leaned back as she swung one tray around, setting it on one of the carts they used to roll everything to the courtyard.

"Alright, well then I'm going to duck out, you seem busy." he said, stepping out of someone's way.

"Okay, see you around, Rex."

Weaving back through the people, he started off outside. If she wasn't in the kitchen, he figured she might be shooting. He'd often find her in a quiet patch with her bow to clear her mind. Sometimes, if he thought she didn't notice him, Rex would just leave the girl.

Slipping his hands into his pockets, he felt the wind tousling his already messy hair. It was already past the point of no return so he didn't even bother trying to fix it.

Rounding the corner, Rex could almost hear his stomach hit the ground at Kateri's figure sprawled across the ground.

" _Kateri!_ " He broke into a run, sliding on his knees the last couple feet.

Her bow was laying a few inches away from her hands as though it fell from her hands. Nudging her so she lay on her back, he placed a hand lightly on her chest and went completely still.

After a few moments, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Her chest had a shallow, but steady rise and fall to it, and he felt her fast pulse beneath her palm, normal for her.

No sure what to do from there, he shook her shoulder. "Kateri! Kateri, wake up. _Damn_ it, please just be asleep. C'mon, this is a bad place for a nap! _Wake up!_."

Another firm shakes, and he saw her eyebrow twitch, her lips parting in a soft groan.

"Hnn...Rex, stop shouting…" she murmured, her eyes finally cracking open.

"Oh thank _god_." he breathed, leaning back as she struggled to sit up.

"Ugh...what happened?" she asked, brushing the grass off her shoulders and out of her hair. "Why am I on the ground?"

"Um, I came looking for you and found you passed out. I don't know what happened either, but it kinda freaked me out for a second." he said. Her heart stutters flashed through his mind, and Rex was grateful that the situation was a mild as it had been. He wouldn't have had a clue what to do if it had been worse.

"Oh. Well that's...weird." she said finally.

"One way to put it." he said with a rueful grin that was a touch too forced to seem lighthearted. "Anyways, pretty sure breakfast has already started, so maybe we should go? And then call Holiday and see if she knows what happened."

She bit back a groan. The last thing she wanted was for the good doctor to start fussing over her _again_ , especially since she'd yet to tell her she was sick, but Kateri knew it was for her own good and decided to forgo the arguing. "Fine."

She tried to stand, but her legs almost collapsed from beneath her. She would have fallen had it not been for Rex's firm grip on her shoulders. The dizziness came back and she tried to push it back.

"'Kay, so walking isn't happening." he said.

"Rex, what-wait, _no-_." she cut herself off once the Latino hauled her onto his back, gripping firmly behind her knees to keep her from trying to climb down. "Come on, I can _walk_."

"Right, just like you could stand up just now."

She flushed and didn't respond.

"Better safe than sorry. I'll put you down before we get there, so no one sees, I promise." he said, with a joking tone. She just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." she huffed, settling against his back, not actually minding as much as she made it sound like.

Just as he said, he lowered her to the ground outside the entrance to the courtyard, her legs shaky, but stable enough to hold her upright. Rex kept one hand on her back as she walked anyways, in case she stumbled, but Kateri got to her chair without incident.

Abuela gave them a curious look, but didn't comment on their late arrival.

Kateri didn't end up eating much, only being able to stomach a few bites of oatmeal, but Rex noticed she downed about four glasses of water.

After a brief explanation for their tardiness to the old Hispanic woman, they retreated to Rex's room to call Holiday(much to Kateri's disgruntlement).

Sticking with a good old fashioned Skype call, Rex's phone pinged for a few minutes before the brunette woman answered.

"Rex? Is everything alright?" she asked, trying to peer over his shoulder at Kateri.

"For the most part, yeah. Kinda figured I should loop you in on the fact this one," he flicked his thumb back. "got sick and I found her passed out this morning."

"Rex! Stop making it sound worse than it is!" she hissed quietly.

Holiday arched a brow. "Sick? What kind of sick? Fever and the sniffles or something worse."

"You've thrown up how many times?" Rex asked.

Kateri flushed. "Um...four or five? Maybe? I don't exactly keep count of how many times I get the pleasure of seeing my food more than once."

Holiday sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "See, it's things like this I keep talking about. You can't just keep things like this to yourself. Your immune system is still playing catch up, so simple things like getting sick can lead to much worse things if you ignore them."

Kateri went from pink to red, but didn't say anything.

"Nothing to be done about it now, just run me through your current symptoms."

"Uh, headache, nausea, dizziness, fever, throwing up everything I look at." she ticked off.

"Don't forget passing out." Rex oh so helpfully chimed it.

"Um, I'd say cold sweat but that happens anyways so I don't know if it's from being sick." she said. "I think that's about it."

"Where does your fever usually run at?"

"Highest was one hundred point two, right now…" she dug in her pocket and fished out the little thermometer, pressing the start button and sticking one end into her mouth. There was a few minutes of silence as they waited before it beeped. Pulling it out, she glanced at it, her brows raising. "Uh, make one oh one point seven the highest." She raised her hands. "I didn't even know it was that high, I haven't checked it since last night."

Rex moved and set one hand against her forehead, her skin scathing under his hand. He frowned, drooping it back to his lap.

Holiday paused for a moment, thinking. "I think it's safe to say you have the flu. When was the last time you had a flu shot?"

"Uh...probably over eight years. Like I told Rex, my mother was the last one to take me to get one, if that says something." she replied.

Another sigh. "Outstanding. I'm also fairly certain that the fainting was just from dehydration. It's not that uncommon with high fevers."

Rex nodded. "Now that you mention it, she drank a lot of water at breakfast."

Holiday gave a short nod as well. "Sounds about right. From here, there's not much I can do except nag, which hasn't gotten me far before. Make sure you stay hydrated. If you think you're drinking enough water, drink more because you and Rex seem to run to the same tune with thinking you're taking care of things like you're supposed to. Otherwise, keep physical activity to the bare minimum, make sure you eat something every few hours. Maybe ask about some kind of ginger tea, and see if you can keep down any orange juice for the vitamin C."

"Already been drinking the tea." Kateri said, making a face. "Most of my diet the past few days has been oatmeal and chicken broth."

"Good, probably the best things for you right now. Don't think I won't be checking in a couple times a day to make sure you're taking care of yourself."

"Yes, Mom." Kateri grumbled.

"You got that right." Holiday said with a small grin. "Though it was a little late, I do appreciate you at least telling me. Get some rest, Kateri."

"Will do." _Try to anyways_.

The line disconnected and Kateri flopped back on the bed with a groan. "I hate being babied."

Rex just laughed, leaning back as well. "Get used to it. With the Doc, it's either tough love or wrapped in a silk blanket with a silver spoon in your mouth. Plus, you've gotta look at it from her side. You kinda downplay stuff too much to just let you take care of it yourself."

Kateri didn't even try to argue that point. "You know, for as much as I fight her, there is a part of me that likes the fact she worries so much. It's still a kinda new thing for me for someone to care about my well being that much. Before, the last time I got that was when I was living with my parents." Her voice took on a bitter tone. "As long as I could still work, they never gave a shit. Nothing a bottle of Nyquil and some painkillers wouldn't fix."

"But that's not how it is anymore, and it won't be if I have any say so." he told her, turning his head to face her.

For a few minutes, they just stared at one another. A part of Kateri's brain cringed at how much like a crappy B rate chick flick it was, but most of her couldn't care less. Right then, all she cared about was the warm chocolate she'd come to trust so much. She knew without a doubt she could tell Rex anything in the world, every single horrible thing she'd ever done, every gory detail, every half baked excuse behind it, and he'd never look at her any differently.

He'd never leave her behind, never let her slip to the backburner. All at once, it hit her like a truck, just _how much_ he _cared_ about her.

"Yes."

The word slipped past her lips before she had a chance to stop it, before the had a chance to consider the weight to it, what it meant.

"Hm?"

"Yes." she said, more firmly. No going back now.

"Yes, what?" he asked, but she could see the faint hope sparking in his eyes.

"Yes to you." His eyes widened, and she sat up. "Yes to your stupid jokes and puns, yes to your crappy battle banter." He slowly sat up as well, eyes never moving from hers. "Yes to your obnoxious worrying, yes to your ridiculous need to protect me from everything, even though we both know I don't really need it. Yes to your cheesy pick up lines and cheesier dates. Yes to _you_."

Rex was staring at her like a blind man who'd just seen the sun for the first time.

Kateri let out a startled yelp as he launched himself at her, wrapping her in his arms and spinning the girl in a circle, his nose buried in the crook of her neck. "There's a hundred things I've thought about saying right now, and I'll be damned if I have anything to say."

"Hm, maybe start by putting me back on the floor?" she said lightly, her voice amused. She gave her feet a light kick, a couple inches from the ground. He chuckled and set her down, his hands moving to her neck, thumbs sitting lightly on her cheeks. "Honestly, if you ask me, you don't have to say anything at all. You being quiet says a lot more than words, since you never are."

"Yeah, but talking too much is part of the package, and if I do recall correctly, you did say yes to _all_ of me." he said, a dopey grin spread across his face.

"Keep it up and I might just realize how bad of an idea that was." she said, but she was grinning as well.

"Hm, I might just be willing to push that boundary." he said, leaning forward to kiss her but he was met with a finger pressed to his mouth.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you recall the conversation we just had with the good doctor, I'm sick. I refuse to deal with the backlash of getting you sick as well. Rain check?" she said, leaning forward and kissing his cheek instead.

"I'm totally fine with getting sick." he said innocently.

"I'm sure." she rolled her eyes.

"So does this mean I get to call you my girlfriend now?" he asked.

For a moment, she didn't answer. The word sounded to alien coming from his mouth, she wasn't completely sure how to respond. "I...wow, that sounds kinda crazy." she admitted, running a hand through her hair. Upon consideration, she'd never had an actual, _real_ relationship before. There had been exactly one time she'd been in a forged relationship for an assignment, afterwards refusing to take them due to the level of emotional manipulation involved. Afterwards, she got out of them by claiming she wasn't able to maintain her cover well enough from the nature of the assignment. "As long as you don't just go running around and parading it...I guess so."

 _That also makes him your boyfriend, you sap_ , her brain reminded her.

This was _definately_ gonna take some getting used to.

Rex could be physically on fire and still not be glowing any more than he was right then. "Can I at least call Noah? He's been bugging me ever since we came here."

She gave him a suspicious look. "I'm gonna take it all back if I find out there was a bet."

"It was considered, but I swear there isn't." he replied instantly. "Is that a yes?"

She let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah. It is."

He let out a soft whoop and began digging in his pocket.

Kateri rolled her eyes again and lightly shook her head, but there was a soft smile on her face. She retreated to her own room, the door clicking shut as excited chatter began to spill from his mouth.

"Dude, you are not gonna _believe_ what just happened…"

Pulling out the pieces of her bow from beneath her bed, she resumed her task from the previous night. Upon closer examination, she'd found a considerable amount of grime leftover from the fight in the underground lab, likely from EVOs and she didn't even want to consider what else. An hour into deep cleaning later, she'd abandoned the task, getting tired and going to bed.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket a few minutes later, and she pulled it out to see it was a text from Alice.

The girl had gotten a phone a couple weeks before Kateri had left, the archer having given the other girl her number so she and Kira could reach her. For obvious reasons, the blind girl didn't have a phone, but she'd talk though Alice.

They would chat from time to time, and from what she knew they had _finally_ managed to stabilize Alice. She was still in recovery, though, her body having a long way to go, but she had been moved out of the ICU a few days after Kateri had gone. Kira was still a mystery to them, but as long as she kept on the cooling bodysuit, she was otherwise fine.

 _Hey stranger, how's it going?_

Kateri set down the tiny brush and the limb of the bow to reply.

 _Pretty good actually. I'm apparently Rex's girlfriend now and I got the flu, but things could definitely be worse._

Kateri bit her lip to contain a grin as she sent the message.

 _Aw, being sick sucks._

A second later.

 _WAIT._

 _WHAT?_

 _WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?_

Kateri stifled a giggle.

 _About 5 minutes ago, actually. Pretty sure it hasn't fully hit me just yet._

The reply came within a minute.

 _DUDE, IT'S ABOUT TIME. I LITERALLY JUST ASKED SOMEONE TO GET KIRA, EXPECT A CALL._

"Oh boy, what have I done." Kateri murmured, reaching over and digging her headphones from her backpack, snagging her water bottle as well. She took a long drink from it as she plugged in the headphones, waiting for the call.

Less than five minutes later, her phone began to vibrate, Alice's contact lighting up.

"Hel-"

" _IF YOU TELL ME YOU'RE JOKING WE'RE NOT FRIENDS ANYMORE._ "

Kateri flinched and jerked the earbud from her ear from the volume of the girl's voice. "Still sick, so hello headache. And no, I'm not joking, so can you do me a favor and not announce it to everyone within a five mile radius of Providence?"

" _Sorry. It's just, literally_ everyone _has been waiting for this. Also, Kira, you owe me ten bucks."_

" _Right, let me just reach into the pocket of my suit and pull that out_." came the blind girl's voice, a bit muffled.

"You seriously bet on me? And here I thought I'd just have Rex and Noah to worry about." Kateri griped.

" _You bet. You two couldn't be more perfect if we designed the two of you in a computer."_ Alice said.

" _I wouldn't say that."_ Kira said.

"Yeah, we're far from perfect. But it's...nice." Kateri said softly.

" _Yeah, yeah. So can I at least tell Charlie and Willow?"_ Alice asked. " _They still stop by at least once a week, Jordan too for the most part."_

"Oh my god, what am I, some kind of gossip column for you guys?" Kateri asked, a note in incredulity in her tone.

" _Something like that, you act like much happens here. Pretty sure Kira and I have gone through every documentary on Netflix there is. I feel like I could write the next great philosophy with all the crap I've learned."_

"Sounds like you have a lot of useless information at your disposal now." Kateri noted.

" _That I do."_

Kateri chuckled, taking another drink from her water bottle. "So, anything else happened around there? I've been gone, what, two and a half weeks?"

" _Three actually. I think. Not gonna lie, it's kinda hard to keep track of time here."_ Alice replied. " _Uh, not really."_

"How's everyone in Boot Camp doing?" Eight of the sixteen had chosen to enlist with Providence, not having a life to return to, while the remaining six were taken back, leaving Kira and Alice in medical care.

" _Pretty decent actually. Not surprisingly, Jordan's at the top of the hand to hand course, and that one lady everyone kept calling Rev-her name's Katherine by the way, and don't call her that she doesn't like it-is the top sharpshooter. Far as I know, everyone else is doing pretty well. Willow's really good at tactics, they're already talking about putting her on a permanent team. Charlie said they were talking about having Jordan lead a team, but she's too hot headed."_

Kateri let out another chuckle. "Sounds about right. She's a good soldier but her mouth gets her in way too much trouble. And tell Willow I said congratulations, that's great."

" _Will do."_ There was soft chatter on the other end of the line. " _Hey, I gotta go, the nurses are here. They do scans and crap twice a week._ "

"Alright, I'll talk to you later." Kateri replied.

" _Will do. Don't be a stranger, Kateri. Or can I say Mrs. Salazar?"_

Kateri began protesting but the line cut off Alice's laughter before she got far.

The Native American girl sighed and shook her head, tossing her phone onto the bed. "'Make friends' they said, 'it'll be good' they said. Bullshit, all I get from friends is harassment."

However, there was a soft smile on her face the whole time.

 **I know this seems very sudden, but it's supposed to. When I first started this chapter, I wasn't expecting it to end like that(again showing how I rarely know what I'm gonna write up until I do), but ultimately, I kept it, because in all actuality, I don't feel it's all that sudden. I mean, this slow burn has been going on for like...63 chapters now, with the first story? I'm sure you're all as sick of seeing them dance around each other as I am.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Now that I know exactly where I want this story to go, I'm hoping I can get them written a little faster, but I work about 50 hours a week on average, and I do have other things I need to do with my remaining time, but I'm doing my best! I mean, four hours is enough sleep for someone to run on on a daily basis, right? *eye twitch***

 **So yeah, please leave me a review and let me know what you think!**


	24. Loose Ends Get Cut

**Guess who's back, back again…*Without Me plays in the distance***

 **This took me longer to get out because I've been out of town since the 16th(spend a week at the beach, woop). Since I update after I finish the next chapter in leiu of posting what's already written(so I make sure it's actually getting written and not getting stagnat), so I made it a point to finish it ASAP. It was almost done in the first place, but I was at a wall and didn't want to rush a shitty ending.**

 *****IMPORTANT NOTE*****

 **This chapter** _ **is**_ **NSFW. The beginning and end of the scene are marked with this → (***), so you can skip it if you want to. It's not pertinant to the plot, but I felt it had a place in the chapter. They're both adults, I personally do not have an issue with it, but some may, so the warning is here. I'm also bumping the story rating to M, for this and future scenes.**

 **So yeah, enjoy! (Also, gotta quit starting chapters like this, must be the 10th chapter I've started with someone waking up)**

Like most mornings, Kateri awoke to soft sunshine in her face, bringing forth a soft sigh from the girl as she stretched her arms above her head.

She got to sleep in most days now, since she'd been pulled off nearly all her chores. Abuela didn't want her anywhere near the kitchen to make sure she didn't get anyone sick, so now all she did was sweep the grounds three times a week.

The past five days Rex had all but forced her to stay in bed the majority of the time, feeling no guilt whatsoever in pulling the "I'm not gonna let my girlfriend make herself anymore sick" card. It usually ended in her blushing furiously and conceding if only to get him to stop talking.

She ended up talking to Alice and Kira more frequently, even doing a Skype call on Sunday when Willow, Jordan and Charlie had come to visit. By then, the three days that had passed had been enough to keep the gushing and questions down to about ten minutes or so.

" _Nice to know some sense hit ya two chavs. About damn time."_

" _I don't even know what a 'chav' is. I'm gonna assume it's some weird Scottish thing and move on."_

After that, he next two or so hours had been just idle chit chat. Willow finally had been offered a spot in Tactics, one she accepted. She was moving to the barracks with the rest of the full time agents as soon as she was out of training.

" _It's kinda weird to think I'm gonna be part of_ actual _missions, but it's a really cool opportunity_."

Jordan had also begun anger management counselling, because she did have razor sharp battle instincts, but lacked the control on her temper. She was doing better than everyone had expected, but she'd admitted that she really wanted to prove that she was capable of leading a team. She'd grown up as being the punk kid people were either afraid of or hid behind, and wanted to prove to herself that she was able to be more than that, something Kateri fully understood.

They had also asked about Ema, Abe and Salem, everyone having wondered what had happened to the three that had aided in their escape.

It was instantly obvious that Kateri was reluctant to talk about it, only offering a short 'I'm not sure, I haven't seen them since' as reply.

Willow, god bless the girl, picked up easily on her discomfort, steered the conversation in another direction.

" _If you don't mind me asking, how did you meet them?"_

This topic, Kateri found, was far easier to talk about than she'd honestly expected. She had _so many_ stories from the time she'd spent with them, many of them riddled with humor.

" _Oh, and there was this one time we broke into a trampoline park. It was technically Abe's idea, but he had been kidding. Obviously, Salem won't take a joke for what it is and before anyone realized what she was doing, the little shit had jimmied the lock around back. Ema had to deactivate the alarm by then, if nothing so we didn't get caught, and by that point, everyone figured we might as well have fun since we'd gotten this far."_

" _Seriously? She just busted into a to a trampoline park and you all ran with it?"_ Alice asked.

" _Yeah, it was pretty great. It's not like there was anyone there to enforce the rules. Salem and I were just doing flips and shit, and, oh god, poor Ema. She can't do much of that stuff so she was just hopping from trampoline to trampoline in patterns or doing cartwheels. But Abe, holy shit, you'd think he was on steroids or something. I'd say a good eighty percent of the time he was just a blur, bouncing off of literally_ everything _, including walls and the ceiling."_

" _Wh-_ how _?"_ Jordan had asked.

" _The literal only answer I have is ninja skills. I hate that answer so much, believe me, but it's the best I've got. But you still haven't heard the best part. We finally had to leave, because Salem ended up tearing a massive hole in one of the mats. To this day, I still have no idea how. Anything sharp was dropped off at the side so we didn't break anything, and there's no way in hell she's heavy enough to just break it, so nobody knows how it actually happened. Well, except Salem, but she refused to tell us."_

She'd also jokingly mentioned that she would be able to help Alice write that great philosophy, since she'd gotten bored enough to begin running through those Netflix documentaries herself.

All in all, she'd had a very relaxed past few days, and she was about to go stir crazy.

Sitting up, she pushed back the covers, quickly making her bed. About the only exercise she got anymore was the walks she'd take a few times a day and shooting her bow, something no one stopped her from doing since it took so little effort on her part and because of the calming effect it had on her.

Brushing her hair, she quickly threw it back into its normal braid, pulling on some clothes and exiting her room to do just that.

She did stop by the kitchen like she did most morning to grab some coffee, but she didn't go in. With her ban and all, Acacia usually just gave her a thermos to take with her.

Sipping the warm liquid, she made her way to the usual spot she went to, the tree so pockmarked by now it was more exposed wood than bark. There were a few pink patches from where she'd marked on it to change her target, or else she might have dug clean through the tree by now.

Taking another long drink before capping off the thermos, she drew an arrow and pulled it back.

Despite her years of shooting, it was rare she'd notice how grimy her bow had gotten until after she cleaned it. Since they would have near constant use, she didn't generally notice the subtle changes, especially since it never hindered her accuracy. But she could feel now how it pulled back a bit easier, the wheels of the compound turning smoother now that they were free of debris.

No more than three shots in, however, a familiar tingling burn began to run across her skin.

Her arm wavered, sending the arrow about seventy yards behind the tree. A choked sound escaped her lips and her bow clattered to the ground, Kateri falling onto her hands and knees. Her breath came in heavy pants as pain radiated up her spine and across her body, bringing a light tremor to her limbs.

 _No, no, no no nononono_

Her legs forced her back onto her feet, her arms twitching uncontrollably at her sides as she took a few shaky steps forward. It gradually began a jog, then a run, Kateri fighting back for control with every step.

Then, everything just...stopped. Her body turned to jelly, and the pitched forward, rolling a couple more feet before stopping on her side, breathing still heavy as it kicked up dust in front of her face.

Slowly sitting up, she brought her hands up to her face, flexing her fingers slowly, watching the violent tremble that hadn't left yet.

A moment later, her phone vibrated in her pocket. It was a solid thirty seconds before she pulled it out, intense fear coursing through every inch of her shaking body.

 _Loose ends get cut._

A second later, another text from the same blocked sender came through, this one with an address and a date three days from then. Then, one third and final text.

 _Be there by noon or next time it won't be you._

A single tear slid down her cheek.

(*)

Kateri actively avoided Rex for the remainder of the day, the adrenaline never fully fading, leaving a light buzz throughout the rest of the day, but by dinner, she knew a confrontation would be unavoidable. She hovered at one of the entrances to the courtyard, watching as Rex not so subtly scanned the crowds for her. Her phone's buzz made her jump, heart leaping into her throat as she glanced at it, thankfully only showing a text from Rex asking where she was. Picking at the end of one of the tiny braids that had become a constant in her hair, she took a deep breath.

Had to face him sooner or later.

Forcing herself to relax for appearances sake, she plastered on a light expression before walking out, looking far more confident than she felt.

His gaze found her almost immediately, standing up and crossing to her, expression a light combination of worry and relief.

"Hey, where have you been? I've been looking for you all day, what's wrong?" he asked, tugging her off to the side.

She hated the words the instant they came out of her mouth. "Sorry, I've been at the stables most of the day."

"You have? I checked by there earlier and Alejandro said he hadn't seen you." Rex said, lips tugging into a slight frown.

 _Shit._ "Yeah, I uh...didn't exactly let them know I was there. I was trying to avoid being babysat. I know it's stupid."

Kateri was surprised to actually hear a short, airy chuckle from Rex. "Kateri, no one's babysitting. You don't have to sneak around, they know you can ride."

"Yeah, but I swear everyone's been hovering a little more both because I'm sick and because we're d-dating." Her last word was stammered, cheeks lighting up.

This time, he full out laughed. "Okay, maybe a little. Just next time, let at least _someone_ know, alright? So I'm not so worried."

Her gut twisted and she wanted to throw up. "Yeah, alright. My phone was on silent so it didn't spook the horse, or I would have texted back, sorry about that."

"No problem. Now c'mon, or they're gonna start without us!"

Kateri was dragged towards the table, Rex's fingers laced between her's as he tugged her forward. The small smile on her face felt like a bigger lie than the words that came out of her mouth, and the mere _thought_ of lying to Rex made the urge to vomit slam into her once again.

She'd worked hard for the trust she had, and the notion that she was being forced to throw it all away for the sake of protecting him cut her deeper than any knife could.

She barely ate anything, shoving pieces of food into her napkin carefully when people weren't paying attention. She ended up downing a few bites, but she was fully expecting to see them later and only did so for Rex's sake. It still ended up appearing as less than she'd normally eat, but it seemed to be enough to keep Rex or anyone else from asking questions.

She excused herself from the group quickly after that, under the guise that she was tired. It was bought easily enough, since as far as anyone else knew, she'd been riding most of the day.

Slipping into her bedroom, she quickly locked both doors, sliding down the one that connected her room to Rex's before letting the tears fall.

Her body was shaking once again, but this time from the silent sobs that she'd been holding back.

Just when she'd thought that she'd finally broken her chains, after working for years to find the weak link and whittle away at it, she finds out that they were actually stronger than ever. Chains that, now, felt more like a noose, one that was getting tighter and tighter with every minute that passes after the events of that morning.

Kateri wanted to scream. To shout and curse and holler. She wanted to kick something until her foot was black and blue. She wanted to hit something until her knuckles cracked and blood dripped down her hand. She wanted to hunt down _every last_ person that had anything to do with that fucking godforsaken company and put an arrow through their skull. She wanted to watch them tremble in terror, beg with fear in their voices with tears running from their wide eyes as they watched. She wanted to see the hope drain from their eyes as they saw what was coming.

She wanted them all to suffer the way she had.

Instead, she remained curled into a tight ball, nails digging into the skin of her arms as she cried, feeling like she was eleven years old again, her parents yanked way as she was forced into a life that no one should ever have to endure. She felt like the scared little girl she had been so long ago.

Her head tipped back, eyes staying closed. "Mom, Dad, I don't know if you can hear me. After everything, I really can't say I believe in that stuff anymore. But I guess it's always times like this were you're past the point of belief anymore.

"I'm scared. God, I'm so fucking terrified. For the first time in years, I was actually happy. Everyone has their problems, and shit if I don't have more than my fair share, but he didn't care about any of that. He knew I was fucked up, and stayed anyways. I don't deserve it, but he didn't give me the chance to deny it. But this is what I'm doing in return. I literally couldn't do something worse if I put everything I had into it.

"I'm just hurting him again. That's all I've ever done, and he's been nothing but good to me." She gave a humorless chuckle. "He can't even see it. He put me on a pedestal and took away the ladder, and now I have no choice but to jump. I'm going to have to make him watch me fall, and goddamnit, if the ground doesn't kill me, my own head will.

"All I ever wanted to do was the right thing. All I can seem to do is the opposite. Every assignment, every target, every kill...everything I buried beneath a mask of lies. I'm an awful, shitty person, who worked towards the right thing in all the wrong ways, and I'm sure as hell paying for it.

"It just hurts. Doing the wrong things for the right reason, but I guess you reap what you sow. Everyone gets their reckoning sooner or later and I guess this is mine. At least I have one silver lining, though...with how things are shaping up, I'll get to see you guys soon enough."

Pulling herself to her feet, she dug through her backpack, pulling out a notebook and a pen.

(*)

The sky was dark, but Kateri had been unable to sleep. Not that it was remotely surprising, Kateri doubted industrial grade sedatives could knock her out. Rex had poked his head in a couple hours earlier, but she'd remained silent when he whispered her name and assumed she was asleep.

If only.

She'd moved to lean against the bed, eyes staring listlessly out the window at the stars for a while now.

Her hand moved to fidget with the necklace the Latino had given her, and in a burst of resolve, she stood, crossing silently to the door to his room and slipping through it.

She'd be damned if she would leave this unresolved too.

Rex was lying on his side, one arm beneath his pillow and the other stretched out behind him, the Hispanic teen snoring lightly.

She reached forward and let her hand rest on his cheek, running her thumb lightly along his cheekbone. The snoring stuttered and he ever so slightly stirred.

Kateri then leaned down and pressed her lips to his.

Rex was awake almost immediately, arm moving to wrap around her waist. "Hmh, Kateri? What's wrong?" he hummed when she pulled back, a small smile pulling at his lips.

Leaning close, she felt Rex shiver as her hair brushed along his face and neck. "Rex... _ayoo anoshi_...I love you."

A small gasp slid past his lips and she felt him freeze, then he was kissing her, sitting up and pulling her onto his lap.

(***)

Her hands slid down his back, making their way under his shirt, and she felt him hum as her fingers pressed against his skin. She was met with no resistance as she tugged it over his head, dropping it to the floor.

Rex's hands were more hesitant, still unsure of her intentions, but a light tug of his wrists brought his hands to her waist, her own shirt scrunched around his hands as his palms lay against bare flesh. Goosebumps rose on her skin and she tangled her fingers into his messy hair as her lips drifted across his cheek, down his jaw and onto his neck. She could feel the shuddering breaths by her ear, followed by a small noise of satisfaction.

Removing one hand from his hair, she pressed her hand onto his bare chest and pushed him back down onto the bed, her lips never leaving his skin. She leaned back only when he tugged at the hem of her T-shirt, pulling it off herself when Rex didn't.

His eyes widened at the action, clearly thrown by her sudden boldness, but those chocolate eyes also smoldered with desire. "Kateri, you don't-"

"I know." she cut him off with a soft whisper before pressing her lips back to his, quashing and remaining hints of doubt.

His hands wandered up and down her back, lightly tracing the scars with a soft touch that brought a warm tingle up her spine.

Her teeth grazed his bottom lip, and a soft whimper escaped his lips, his nails digging into her sides.

The sheets were kicked to the end of the bed, and remaining clothing quickly shed, skin pressing to skin with flush heat.

Rex's touch was soft and hesitant, never doing anything without some sort of permission from the Native American girl.

Kateri's was more firm, never doubting her actions and never hesitating when nudging Rex to continue.

Breathy sighs and low murmurs of the other's name were quiet in the dark room, but the sound was like a loudspeaker to the two, the only thing mattering in that moment was the other.

Hands wandered over bare skin in entirely new ways, every touch and kiss like another new experience all over again. The warmth of bodies pressed together bringing a sense of completion neither had ever felt before.

Kateri's back moved into a fluid arch and Rex's head fell into the crook of her shoulder, both bodies tremoring as heat rushed through them.

(***)

Rex shifted a moment later, moving to curl around her, their bodies still twined together. A light sheen of sweat coated them both, but neither seemed to mind.

Seconds turned to minutes and after roughly half an hour, Rex's breathing began heavy and his light snore had picked up again.

For a while, Kateri just watched him sleep. She wasn't sure for how long, but long enough to memorize every last detail of his face. The little dimple on his left cheek that never fully smoothed, the way his lips were ever so slightly parted, the way his nose would twitch every so often.

She wanted something to cling to.

If nothing else, she'd wanted him to know beyond certainty that something wasn't a lie. That the way she felt, the way she cared about him, wasn't a lie.

She hoped it was enough.

Feeling like her limbs were made of lead, she carefully detangled herself from Rex's grasp, pulling on her discarded clothes and slipping out of the room as soundlessly as she'd entered.

Quickly, she shoved everything she had into her backpack, her movements jerky as though she couldn't move fast enough, yet she dreaded the last item she had in her hand. With a sharp sigh, she just shoved it into the bag.

Picking up the letter sitting on the bedside table, it felt like a barbell in her hands, like it would drop through the floor if she let it go.

Reaching forward, she laid it onto the pillow of her neatly made bed, before reaching up and unclasping the silver chain around her neck. It pooled underneath the paper, the crystals in the arrowhead glinting in the moonlight.

Turning away, she crept out the door, refusing to look back as it clicked behind her.

(*)

Rex awoke to an odd sensation of warmth and chill, one side covered in goosebumps and other tucked into the warmth of the bed.

"Hmm...Kateri, where'd the blanket go?" he murmured. No reply came.

Cracking open his eyes, he looked over to see his bed was empty of the girl. Disappointment rushed through him for a moment before he remembered she generally rose before he did.

Pulling himself out of bed, he stopped to tug on his boxers and pants before moving to the door that connected their rooms. "Hey, did we miss…?"

The room was startlingly clean, too clean for someone to be residing in it. His stomach twisted and his heart sank, a dull panic beginning to set in as he spied a piece of paper on the bed.

 _God, please no._

He walked forward, anxiety growing with every step until he stood beside the empty bed, staring at the piece of folded paper.

Slowly, he reached out and picked it up, wanting nothing more to burn it and find out Kateri was around back shooting like she was most mornings. He unfolded it so slowly it was almost comical, having to force himself to read the neat script on the page, a few words marred by dotted blurs of dripping water.

 _Rex,_

 _Honestly, I have no good way to say any of this. All of it is gonna hurt. I can't get around that. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but I've never been able to get away from the guilt of it._

 _I didn't want to leave. Don't think even for a second that I wanted to go. If I had any other choice, I'd have stayed in your arms until the day I die. But then again, I may have come pretty close._

 _I've lied to you too much, but I won't now. I don't see myself walking out of this one._

 _I lied about where I was yesterday. I wasn't at the stables. I avoided you all day, because I didn't think I could keep it together._

 _I knew I wouldn't be able to stay away for long. Ghosts have a funny way of coming back. But I guess whatever they did to me was more effective than I thought. Marionette doll wasn't far off, apparently, but once they threatened you, I might as well have signed away my soul._

 _I can't let them hurt you. I won't. I refuse to drag you into my mess of mistakes again, which is why I'm doing this. I know I can't do it alone, but as long as they leave you alone, I'm fine with that. I accepted my fate a long time ago, and I guess it's time to cash in._

 _I'm sorry I dragged you through all of this. I'm sorry I strung you along for so long and gave you what you asked for before ripping it all away. I hate knowing that all you've ever done is take care of me and all I ever did in return was hurt you. I'm still doing it now. I caved into my own selfishness and hurt you over and over ever since. I'll never be sorry enough for everything I've caused._

 _I know you won't listen, but please don't try to find me. As fucked up as it is, I'm trying to protect you from them. Obviously, I'm pretty shitty at that, but I can't let you do it again. I can't get you pulled into this shit show again, not after last time._

 _So I won't. I'll take whatever I have coming for me, and whatever happens, happens._

 _I'm sorry for everything. I hope you can give this to someone who treats you the way you should be._

 _Ayoo anoshi._

 _-Kateri_

Rex's body was numb. A dull buzz filled his head, and he was almost sure if he looked down, he would be able to see his chest cracking apart. He reached out and picked up the necklace he gave her, staring at it blankly for a moment before pushing it into his pocket.

The paper slipped through his fingers, falling to the floor at the same time as Rex's knees. His shoulders began to shake as tears began to trail down his face.

He stumbled back into his own room, fumbling for his phone and pressing Holiday's number in his speed dial.

" _Rex, what's-"_

"She's gone." he whispered, his voice refusing to work properly. "Kateri's gone."

 **So yes. Shit, meet fan.**

 ***hides under desk***

 **I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. This is actually one of my favorite chapters, I got it written so fast and so easily. I love it. A lot of you have known this was coming for a long time now. They were too happy. But I drew it out, my children deserved a nice long break. This is also the start of the primary(and probably final) arc of the story, and I'm expecting the chapter count to hit around 40 like the last one.**

 **Please leave a review and tell me what you think! I hope you liked it!**


	25. Heavy In Your Arms

**Still kicking. I can** ** _smell_** **the ending and the suspense is killing me. I wanna know what happens just as much as y'all.**

 **Now featuring some Mama Hen Bobo! I feel like I've done a pretty bad job of keeping his character a part of this, and his role remains pretty tiny anyways, but I honestly do love the little jackass and I kinda regret not including him more than I did.**

 **Enjoy!**

Holiday stared at the phone in her hands. She had been for a while now, but she'd long since lost track of how much time had passed. What finally snapped her out of her stupor was Six placing a hand on her shoulder, the brunette not even having heard him enter the room.

"Holiday, is something wrong?"

"Kateri. She...left." she finally said. "Rex called me. Apparently he woke up this morning and she was gone, she just left a note."

Six raised a brow, looking a bit concerned over how distressed Holiday looked. He couldn't even imagine what Rex must be like. "Do we know why?"

"According to Rex, the people she worked for found her again, said they put an ultimatum over her head."

"I'm assuming Rex was the ultimatum." Six said.

"He didn't outright say it, but it was clear enough." she replied.

Six just sighed. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling at all. People who got involved in things like this got hurt, there was no way around it, and evidently the time had come for Rex to learn it the hard way too. "I'm assuming her trail is long cold."

"I picked up on a bus she took out of the area, but beyond that, there's nothing. She knows how to cover her tracks, and if she doesn't want to be found, I suspect she won't." Holiday replied.

"Then right now, I think we should go get Rex. He doesn't need to be stuck in his head right now." Six said.

"You're probably right." she sighed, standing. If she knew one thing, it was that Rex was hurting, and she didn't want him to do anything reckless.

She couldn't even find it in herself to be angry at the Navajo girl. Holiday knew that Kateri was only doing what she thought was right, what she thought would protect Rex, and part of her commended the girl for it. Part of her was also upset that she hadn't even tried coming to them for help. That she thought her only choice was to face it alone.

Holiday just let out another quiet sigh before following Six out. They needed to get to Rex.

(*)

Kateri was glad she never bothered to clear out the compartment at the bottom of her quiver. There was an envelope with birth certificates, social security cards and IDs for several false identities that helped her travel undetected with ease. It actually bothered her how easy it was to slip into her old routine, taking random flights and other modes of transportations while rotating the names, leaving no trails but dead ends. Her actions were done with little thought, so used to years of covert travel, it wasn't remotely difficult.

She wished it was. It would force her to think about something besides the lack of the familiar weight above her collarbone where the necklace once hung. It would keep her from pulling out her phone and scrolling though the dozens of pictures Rex insisted on taking in the past few months. It would keep her from running her fingers over the indents in her notebook where she'd written that letter.

It would keep her mind off the Latino teen she'd left behind, broken and bleeding.

But it didn't, and more than once she found herself fighting back tears.

 _Ayoo anoshi._

" _If I don't die, I'll tell you."_

So much for that.

(*)

Rex hadn't moved from his place against the door in hours. He'd been leaning against the one connecting his and...her room since he'd called Holiday that morning. His eyes were listless and blank, staring a hole in the teak floorboards.

He felt hollow. Like he was just a skeleton and skin, and anything else inside had withered and crumbled away. His skin still tingled from where...her hands had ghosted over it, but it felt like molten lead for how it burned in his mind.

He'd forgotten how much it hurt. To be left behind like this, to have what he sought after _finally_ in his grasp, only to be torn away again. Part of his almost wished she'd left without a word. Maybe then he could be angry at her. But she didn't. She left to protect him, and he hated she felt like she had to leave him behind to do so. Time had proven, at least to him, they worked better in a team.

But instead, he was left, knowing she loved him, and chose to keep him from harm's way instead of letting them have each other's backs.

His phone vibrated, and it took him a solid two minutes to even find the motivation to pick it up and look at it, and another to register that it was a text from Six.

 _We're on our way._

Six had never been a man of many words, but the four on the screen spoke volumes.

A part of him acknowledged he should be glad. That is family cared enough about him to drop everything and come get him. But he didn't feel anything except the hollow ache in his chest.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he actually stood, pulling on his slightly wrinkled shirt from the floor, his skin burning as he remembered where her hands had brushed when she had pulled it off. He slowly, haphazardly shoved his belongings back into his duffle bag, pushing the godforsaken note into the very bottom.

Barely even realizing what he'd done, he looked down at the glittering silver chain pooled in his palm, the charm nestled in one of the creases of his fingers. Not sure what else to do with it, he reached back and clipped it on around his own neck. It was a tad more snug on his neck that he'd have preferred, but it didn't feel nearly as much like a noose as he'd thought it would.

He jerked at a curt, but soft knock at his door. How long had he been sitting there? He wasn't sure. Standing, he went to open the door.

He opened it to reveal Federico, looking confused and concerned. "Hey, Rex, you and Kateri missed-what's wrong?"

It had taken a moment for the curly haired teen to register the blank look on Rex's face, but once he had, his demeanor shifted from mild concern to intense worry.

"She left." Rex replied in a monotone. Monotone was good, right now, it meant he at least wasn't gonna lose his shit just yet. He knew it was coming, but right now, he was still in a state of blank mental shock.

"Kateri left?" he asked, stepping into the room without permission. He doubted Rex was in much of a position to offer it, so he just walked in, pushing the door shut and tugging Rex over to the bed. "Rex, what happened?"

"You remember those people she worked for?" he said robotically.

"Yeah?"

"They came back." He pressed his knuckles into his eyes. "She left because of me. She didn't want them to hurt me, so she left."

He picked his head up and Federico could see tears shining in his eyes.

"She's going to die. Alone, they're going to kill her after everything she's done. But-she won't-"

He cut off, his voice refusing to work anymore, and Federico didn't think twice in scooping him into a hug. Rex didn't strike him as a touchy person, but he definitely looked like he needed a hug right now.

"It's not your fault." Was the first thing out of his mouth. "You say it's because of you, but, really, it isn't. It's twisted people forcing her hand in the way they know will work. If it wasn't you, it would be someone else, so don't sit here and think this is your fault. She made her choice, and it was the choice to protect you. If it was Santiago, I'd do the same thing."

Santiago was Federico's boyfriend. He'd met him a couple weeks ago, the other teen living in town instead of within the little village. Santiago had straight hair kept in an undercut, and was heterochromic with one washed out blue eye. He and Federico had been together for almost a year, and were the perfect combination of incredibly cute and intensely competitive. Rex had been thrilled for them.

"It...It just hurts." Rex murmured, his head resting on Federico's shoulder, to exhausted in general to even bother moving. "I've been in this same position so many times before, and it just adds fuel to the fire that she told me why she was going."

So did the previous night, but Rex didn't even want to think about that right now, let alone bring it up.

"I'm sorry, Rex. I can't even imagine what you must feel like right now."

Right then, he didn't feel much at all, but he could feel his body get heavier and heavier with longing by the minute.

"Are you going to go after her?" Federico asked.

 _Yes_. The answer was almost instant in his mind. He hardly cared that she'd asked him not to, of _course_ he was going to go after her.

"If I can find her."

(*)

The jump jet was eerily quiet as it touched down. Holiday had spent the previous solid twenty minutes arguing with White on the phone.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me right now."

" _This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about. You gave her far too loose a leash again, and now she's up and vanished to god knows where to do god knows what, not to mention the state she left Rex in. What does that sound like to you?"_

"It sounds like she's trying not to let him get hurt, because she cares!"

" _Doctor Holiday, we know exceptionally little about this girl. Only what she's told us, which we have no real way of proving as true. How do you know that she isn't still working for them in the first place and now she's just run off to tell them everything?"_

"Really? I don't." she replied flatly. "But I do trust her, and I do believe she's doing the right thing here."

" _That means nothing when it comes to protecting our assets!"_

"You're right. But that's part of trusting people. Where there isn't fact, there's faith."

She promptly hung up on him after that, putting her phone on silent and shutting down the ship's communications frequency.

"White doesn't seem to be taking this particularly well." Six noted, speaking for the first time the entire trip.

"Of course not. He thinks it's all some elaborate scheme to steal information." Holiday sighed.

"I can't say I blame him."

Holiday's eyes cut to him. "Don't tell me _you_ think that's all this is."

"I can't fully rule out the possibility, however small." There was a beat of silence. "But no, I don't think that's what this is."

He'd spent a lot of years learning people, learning how to recognize what made them tick. Kateri was sincere in her actions, but he also knew she had a lot of mental scarring. Given the right incentive, he didn't think it would be that hard to manipulate her. She definitely did not let people in easily, no, but once she did, she wore her heart on her sleeve just a bit too much for a fully effective mercenary. Kateri was by no means weak, but it left her far too vulnerable to things exactly like this.

"Rex must be devastated." Holiday murmured. "After everything with Circe, I doubt he's handling this very well, if at all."

Holiday didn't necessarily harbor bad feelings toward Circe. Yes, she was immensely displeased with her actions, but she also understood that the girl had plenty of her own demons to contend with, and agreed that Rex wasn't honestly equipped to deal with them. However, unlike Kateri, she was far less willing to open up about them and seek out the help she needed in regards to them. Rex had told her about Kateri meeting Circe, and hoped that maybe if their friendship grew at all, Kateri could convince her to do exactly that.

After she and Six exited the jump jet, Abuela met them at the front gates. Holiday realized right then that she'd never properly met the woman in person. She'd heard plenty about her and caught glimpses of her in Skype calls, but this was the first time she'd met her face to face.

"You must be Doctor Holiday and Agent Six." The small Mexican woman said with a somber expression. "I take it you're here for Rex?"

"Yes." Six nodded, and Abuela pulled open the gate.

"He hasn't left his room. Federico has been with him for the past hour or so." she said as she led the two Providence agents towards the guest rooms Rex and Kateri had been staying in.

She knocked softly on the door.

" _Adelante"_ A voice replied softly.

Abuela nudged the door open and stepped aside to let them in.

Holiday stepped in first, seeing Rex asleep on the bed. One leg hung off the side and he was close to the edge. His head was also half propped on Federico's leg, the curly haired teen having just been sitting there in silence. Her eyes went to the silver necklace almost immediately.

"I managed to get him to fall asleep, since I doubt he'll be getting much for a while. He's been out about twenty minutes." Federico said quietly. "Honestly, I'm pretty sure he just didn't want to be left alone."

"I'd be inclined to say you're right." Holiday replied, kneeling down in front of him and placing a light hand on his shoulder. "Rex."

The Latino teen stirred almost immediately, which told her he wasn't really all that asleep since Rex tended to sleep like the dead. Still, right this second, she'd take what she could get.

"Doc?" he mumbled, words slightly slurred. His eyes were bloodshot, but dry.

"Yeah. We're here to take you home." she said.

Rex just nodded. This had become a place that made _her_ happy. He didn't want to stay any longer than he had to in order to keep this a place with good memories. He picked up his duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder without a word.

Abuela and Federico exchanged a few words in fast Spanish, both of them nodding. Rex glanced over to them, but didn't comment on whatever it was they had said.

"As much as I enjoy seeing you, Rex, I do think it's best you go. I hope to see you again soon, in better spirits." Abuela took a few steps and embrace the EVO teen. Rex let his chin fall to her shoulder and wrapped his free arm around her, but his expression didn't change.

"I do too. I'd like to come see everyone more often." he said in a soft voice. The smallest smile pulled at his mouth, but stopped there.

"I look forward to it, _mijo_."

Federico stood as well, and they exchanged a short, silent hug, but no words were necessary.

"Take care of yourself, Rex." he said when he pulled back.

"I'll do my best." Rex replied.

"I will be holding you to that."

No one spoke until they were all back on the ship.

"So, Rex," Holiday began carefully. "I know this probably seems like a pointless question, but do you want to talk about it?"

"Right now, no." he replied. "I will eventually, I swear, but right now, I just want to be left alone."

Holiday just nodded. He could have a bit of space before she began prodding him. From the looks of it, he was still in a haze of whiplash, so prodding wouldn't go far right now. "My door's always open."

"I know."

(*)

Okay. It had been four hours, and he hadn't moved. He was _done._

"Alright, kid, enough is enough."

Rex glanced over, his eyes dull. "What?"

"I'm gonna get your sorry tail up, or my name isn't Bobo Haha."

The Latino teen's eyes drifted back to the floor. "Not right now, Bobo."

"No, don't pull that crap with me. Yeah, I get that you're upset, but wallowing isn't going to get you anywhere." the monkey said, crossing his arms.

"I'm not wallowing."

"What you're doing is the dictionary definition of wallowing. Yeah, you're in a shit mood, which is fully understandable, but you gotta do something." Bobo pinched the bridge of his nose. This whole 'sympathizing' thing was _way_ out of his element, but he couldn't remember the last time he saw the kid so hung up, if there even was one. So damnit, he was at the very least going to get the kid up and moving to at least try and distract him.

Rex didn't respond, but after about thirty seconds, he stood. "Fine. What are we doing?"

Bobo grinned. "Heard White just had the jump jets cleaned."

(*)

That plan had blown up in Bobo's face far more literally that he'd meant to.

Originally, they were just gonna rig a few paint bombs that would pop when the doors would open, but the ignitions _may_ have had a bit too much power behind them and they _may_ now be responsible for three damaged jets. Or well, he was, which was automatically worse since ninety percent of Providence in general hated him. Rex had refused to actually take part in anything, but he had managed to coax an almost smile out of him a few times and a couple of weak, half-assed jokes, so the EVO primate took it in stride.

It was better than before, anyways.

They ended up fleeing Providence property in general to dodge White's wrath, the two finding themselves in a familiar park. Bobo stole Rex's phone and messaged Noah, asking the blond teen to meet them there.

He just handed the device back to Rex, who stuck it back into the same pocket without a glance, though that wasn't unusual. Bobo pick pocketed him on a regular basis, but generally gave the things back, so Rex didn't really worry about it.

"So…" Bobo started, the awkward tension in the air almost unbearable as they waited for Noah. "Look, Kid, I'm bad with the mushy crap. But it's obvious you're pretty messed up about this. I'm sure Doc Gorgeous has already thrown this on the table, but you got anything you wanna get off your chest? I don't exactly have a PHD, but I can listen to you talk for a good ten minutes."

Rex was silent for a few minutes, eyes distant as he started ahead. A small crease formed between his brows.

"I just…I don't get it. I know I haven't really known her that long, what, four months? But after everything that went down in the desert, I just feel like…I don't know, she should trust me more? No, that's not it. On some level, I _do_ get it. She wants to protect me. But I can take care of myself. Hell, five teenagers broke into a high security underground lab, where dozens, if not hundreds, of illegal experiments were going on, and set free sixteen hostages in the process of taking down a massive chunk of their data. That should count for more than it is right now." He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he leaned forward. "What I don't get is why she thinks she has to do it alone. Why she would _knowingly_ walk into a suicide mission, just for that."

"She did it because she cares about you, kid." Bobo spoke. "There's a lot of things about those people that we just don't know. Far as I know, they're a ghost company, and weren't majorly on Providence's radar until she came around. She's got a lot more of an idea of what they're capable of than we do. I can't say I know her that well, being around you two is like watching a Valentine's parade that never ends, but from what I do know, I'd say she chose the path of least resistance so they'd stay away from you. Yeah, I'm sure you could've had an army follow her there, but she knows better than anyone here how they can pull people's strings. You saw what happened to her parents, how they don't have a problem hunting people down, and doing whatever it takes to break them. You've become the most solid thing in her life, and she's probably terrified of something even close to that happening to you, _especially_ after that last job. From her side, this was the best guarantee she had to keep you out of the crosshairs. If she's the only thing they want, then she'd give it to them in a heartbeat."

Rex turned to him with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Since when did you get so wise?"

Bobo just shrugged. "About half of that was me channeling the good doctor, and the other half was me repeating stuff I heard in notes I went through when she wasn't looking. But when you break down both sides of what happened, she's almost an open book with her motivations. Look at what her life's been leading up to now. She's been smack in the middle of a living hell, under the thumb of people who have the power to do things like that, like they're nothing. That's got to instill a lot of fear of what they're capable of. They orphaned her. They turned her into some half EVO mutant. Her friends are missing and probably dead because of them. She's lost a lot because of them, and I'm sure she'd be damned before it happens again, when she could have prevented it. So she is by doing this."

"Stop making too much sense." Rex grumbled. "You're making it hard to wallow."

Bobo let out a gruff chuckle. "Just in time, looks like blondie is here to hand you your ass with that basketball."

Noah grinned and waved at them. "Hey, Rex!" he called, jogging closer. "Where's Kateri?"

Rex visibly flinched at her name.

The smile immediately dropped off Noah's face, but Bobo shook his head behind the Latino teen. _Talk later_ he mouthed.

"Uh…okay. So, anything in particular you wanted to do?" he asked, obviously uncertain.

Rex squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath before standing. "No, don't start doing that. Ka…Kateri's not here. I'll explain later…much later, but for now, you're here in Bobo's transparent attempt to distract me. I've gotten enough pity from other people, so _please_ don't walk on eggshells around me."

Noah's eyes widened a fraction in surprise. But it was short lived, then he twisted his hands around and threw the ball at Rex, letting a crooked smile that didn't _quite_ reach his eyes tug at his mouth. "Alright, then let's play some ball."

Rex caught it relatively easily.

"Thanks, man."

(*)

Forty five minutes later, Rex and Noah were panting and sweating profusely, while Bobo laughed at them, hanging from the rim of the hoop with one hand while the ball was clasped in the other.

"Remind me again why we thought we could beat a monkey at basketball?" Noah asked. "He can climb the post for god's sake!"

"Because he's a dirty cheater." Rex grumbled, flopping over on the pavement and using the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face. His jacket was discarded minutes into them playing, the Mexico heat far too much to keep it on.

"You suck either way, not like it's gonna make a difference." Bobo said, giving the ball a languid toss before releasing the rim. It swished through the net before falling into Bobo's hands.

"Why am I friends with you?" Rex griped. "All you do is make fun of me and get me in trouble."

"You make fun of me back and half those things were your idea." the primate shot back with a smirk.

"…Touché."

Noah glanced over at Rex. "You think what I'm thinking?"

"If you're thinking of tacos, then the answer would be yes."

"That's my man."

After another few minutes, the two boys finally managed to pick themselves up off the ground, walking in companionable silence.

"So…I don't wanna push for details, but can I at least get a Sparknotes version of what's going on?" Noah finally asked, albeit reluctantly. He'd managed to lift Rex's spirits a bit, and didn't exactly want to backpedal, but curiosity had been eating at him.

Rex's eyes slid to the ground. "She left." He said bluntly. "Apparently those people she worked for were pretty pissed after we busted their lab and wiped most of their intel, so they held a contingency over her head to force her to come back."

"Contingency?"

Rex wordlessly pointed to himself, and the pieces clicked into place for Noah pretty quickly.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Noah didn't pry any further, which Rex was grateful for.

They approached the taco shop they would frequent, the employees not even batting an eye at Bobo, so used to his presence by this point. The little shop wasn't altogether too busy, but it was still fairly steady inside. After the massive curing, Rex had gotten quite a bit of media attention, to the point even the ostentatious teen had withdrawn to Providence until it calmed a bit. As a result, his favorite taco joint received an overflowing amount of business and was still doing well. They would frequently throw a few extra tacos into his order on the house for it, since they were one of the few places he'd been on consistently good terms with even beforehand, since he'd never managed to trash their building.

"Rex!" piped the girl at the counter, a gray eyed brunette named Luna. "Been a while since you showed your mug around here. Same as usual?"

He mustered a weak smile and just nodded.

"Something wrong?" she asked, barely looking at the register as her fingers clicked over the keys.

"Yeah, just…been kinda stressed out lately." He replied vaguely.

"Sorry to hear that." She murmured. A few minutes later, she retrieved the tray from the window, three more tacos than he'd ordered resting on it. She then stopped by the glass pane and grabbed a few fritters out of the display. "Here, take these too. Mina pulled them out not too long ago, so they're still warm."

"Thanks." He said genuinely, stepping back when Noah's food came down.

Rex passed Bobo his food and two of the three extra tacos before unwrapping one of his own.

"So, I do at least have some exciting news." Noah said around a mouthful of loaded nachos. "I finally got a car."

"Seriously? Nice, dude." Rex replied.

"Yeah, my mom snagged a really good deal off a friend of hers that works of a dealership. It's a good few years old, but there's not a lot of miles on it and it's in good condition. Blue Subaru."

"Cool, bet it'll be nice to not have to pedal everywhere." Rex commented, squeezing taco sauce onto the next taco.

" _So_ nice. Also nice because now Claire doesn't have to drive us on all our dates. What about you? You ever gonna get a real license?" Noah asked.

"Eh." Rex shrugged. "I mean, even if I did, I kinda have, like, four different modes of transportation built in. Literally. Not sure how much good it'd do me."

"Fair enough. But they're also kinda conspicuous if you're trying to blend it." Noah pointed out, but Rex just shrugged.

"So is my face, by now." His famous face still drew plenty of attention in public, though nearly all of Rex's media hype had died down, especially since EVOs were a relatively rare occurrence anymore, and even more rare that they were aggressive. Rex could tell a difference in the nanites, they weren't as wild as they once were, leaving many of the EVOs that did form pretty docile unless provoked. They honestly weren't much different from the regular animals they once were, just more dangerous if you did manage to anger them.

Rex picked up one of the warm fritters, and barely managed to bite it before his eyes widened and his throat seemed to close up. Blinking hard, he forced himself to swallow so he didn't start to choke, but his stomach turned and he immediately felt like he was going to throw up.

"Uh, dude?" Noah asked. "You alright?"

"Yeah...you can have those." Rex nudged the fritters across the table.

Noah glanced at them curiously. "Um, no thanks. Do, uh, do you just wanna head back?"

He could see Rex's hands clenched on the table as he tried to reign in his emotions.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

He stood, and without a word, tossed the strawberry fritters into the trash.

 **So yeah. The next good handful of chapters do revolve in Rex being in a pretty dark mental state, and I did my best to base this around some personal experiences of my own, so I hope it comes across.**

 **Sidenote, I did ask _looooong_ while back on opinions of making Federico gay, and I got a couple mixed answers, but I ultimately decided to keep it out of the sheer fact it's something of a rarity in things like this. That said, I kept the part very minor, and it won't be relevant to anything else.**

 **Also, after this, I'm going to be doing perspective switched every other chapter, one following Kateri, one following Rex. I did this for a few reasons, one being that now that I've figured out the ending, I don't want to rush it, and two being I think it's important to show both sides and this is the best way for me personally to keep an even balance.**

 **Last thing, I apologize for there likely being more typos than usual. The past few days have been nothing but a clusterfuck of things going on(boyfriend going into the Air Force, moving stuff, new job stuff, the works. I hate adulting, I demand a refund. and even now it's almost 11 o'clock and I'm running off 2 hours of sleep, editing was attempted and quickly became not a thing.**

 **But yeah, I hope y'all liked the chapter, please leave me a review and tell me what you think! I hope to have the next chapter up for you soon!**


	26. Distant

**Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! Brushing the dust off of this thing.**

 **Not a lot to say here, really. I took the break I needed and I'm doing much better now, and ready to get this back on track. I'll have more notes at the end, but for now I'll let you guys read.**

Kateri's eyes flicked open as the bus she rode slowed to a stop. Glancing at the number that flashed on the cheap LED above where the driver sat, she tugged her headphones free and stood, making her way to the front of the bus.

Shouldering her backpack, she tugged up the hood of her jacket and slipped off of the bus, blending into the crowds easily. She walked quickly through the foot traffic, making her way up to the booth. Digging in her pocket, she handed over a passport and the matching ID before tugging back the hood.

"You are Melina Perez?" the woman asked, and she threw up a mask of false confusion.

" _Que? No comprende."_

The woman sighed, clearly at her wits end with people who didn't seem to speak English. Calling over her shoulder, she waved over a tall, heavy set man with salt and pepper hair and friendly eyes.

He spoke to her softly and clearly, and Kateri was able to understand it well enough and bullshit her way through the conversation to feign ignorance. She signed a couple of papers with her left hand in a barely legible signature, thanking him as she took her paperwork and headed off, keeping her head low to avoid cameras.

Ducking into the restroom, she quickly locked herself into the handicap stall, yanking off her hoodie and pulling out the brown leather jacket she'd bought when she'd gone back to Arizona the last time, removing the brown contacts from her eyes a moment later. She also pulled a white t-shirt over her gray tank top, then quickly wound her hair into a loose bun, shoving most of it under a beanie but letting the ends and her bangs stick out, giving the illusion of having a pixie cut. Next, she clipped a fake septum ring to her nose and quickly put on a temporary tattoo on the side of her neck, trailing under her shirt, rubbing at it slightly to make it look faded and smeared on some dark red lipstick she'd stolen from a kiosk. Last of all, she slid on a pair of round sunglasses she'd just stolen from a gift shop, similar to those propped on the head on Nicole Olivera's ID picture.

Shoving her previous clothes back into her backpack, she slid out of the restroom, walking quickly through the second lobby and out the doors, now on United States soil.

Though going through customs was a hassle, she also knew that it was a less likely place she'd be looked for. The best way to travel discreetly, she'd learned, was to travel legally. Or what appeared legally, anyways. Most expect people like her to try and sneak through the back door and are too busy looking there to watch as she marches out the front.

She quickly grabbed a cab and had it take her to the nearest mall. Rotating aliases required a bit more inventory than she had to look the part, so she needed to grab a few ensembles to pass as a few of them. Hopefully she could find a halfway decent brown wig, as well, since two of them had shoulder length brown hair that would be impossible to replicate otherwise.

Not for the first time, she was incredibly thankful Ema had done some tinkering to her checking account, so every transaction rerouted itself at least three times, so if someone checked her account, they looked like they could have come from anywhere. This had caused more than a few issues a couple years ago when she first did it, but after making a few arrangements to have it set up like a business account, she was no longer having to deal with it being frozen from what looked like multiple attempts at fraud.

The irony was also not lost on her that shopping trips like this only ever happened when it was job related. A humorless smile crossed her face as she flipped through a clothing rack, looking for some kind of floral print that Jami Tyson would wear, though she'd need to get ahold of some prosthetics for this one before she could use it for the sharp cheekbones.

An hour and a half and four sets of clothing later, Kateri was back on the move, having changed again into a flowy navy skirt and gray blouse for Desiree Montgomery, brown contacts back in and a thick lilac headband on top of a brown wig she'd managed to find. It wasn't the best quality so she used the headband to hide the edges, but it was passable enough otherwise.

Now she was headed to the airport, catching another cab outside the mall.

It was a forty minute drive, so she used the time to try and develop a plan.

The address she'd been given was in Sacramento. Jessup had originated in California, and Sacramento was where it's headquarters were. The first building they'd broken into to steal the drives had simply been the primary place Kateri worked, the one Elrich ran. She knew there were four heads to the organization, Elrich being one of them, and each one ran a different office. The one she was going to was run by Abijah Jessup. The man had come here from Jordan many years ago, starting his company as one of biomedical science, on of many working towards cures for cancer and other countless diseases. After the first Nanite Event, however, he began to see profit in learning to control the EVOs.

Kateri had dug into Jessup's past as much as she could without bringing attention to it. Abijah's true motivations had only come into the light after the drives were stolen and she could pick through the program's origins. It had actually began only a couple months after the initial spread of the nanites, but only gained real holding in the past two years as research and testing began to finally have viable results. Originally, he'd wanted to place her father on the team to make it work, since Yiska had been a brilliant biochemist and understood the body better than many in the organization. But he'd refused.

Or tried to.

That was about the time she'd gotten involved. At the time, she hadn't know anything about this. As far as she knew, her parents worked for good people who wanted to help others, as naïve eleven year olds should.

When she'd first been brought in, it had just been a mess of confusion. She had no idea what was going on, only that something was very wrong. She'd always been told she was a very perceptive child, and the moment two men with badges sporting Jessup's yellow logo had arrived to get her from school instead of her parents, she knew something bad had happened.

In the _very_ beginning, she was told a web of lies that she believed a little too easily. Her parents had gotten into serious trouble, and it was solely up to her to help them. She could either start working for Jessup, or she could join her parents.

When talking to an eleven year old, one would think their immediate answer would just be to go with their parents. Every kid thought their parents could protect them from anything. But she knew that they were, wherever they were, because something had happened. Not very specific or useful, really, but it was enough for her to know she'd be better off trying to get them out than go with them. So, though she was terrified, she agreed.

The first couple months weren't the worst, honestly. She was given a bland, white room with a bed, a dresser, and a desk with a lamp. She was put through a rough approximation of schooling the next few years, but only the basics and more rigorous. She got an online GED by the time she was fourteen, not long before she started field work.

If she wasn't being tutored, she was training. Always training. She was kept on a strict schedule. Eight hours of sleep, five of tutoring, ten of training with three twenty minute breaks for meals a day. Rinse, repeat for three years, until she could drop a fully armed, three hundred pound man in under ten seconds at fourteen.

Her first assignments weren't anything special. Not even the one that led to her getting tortured. That gang mission has simple been a reconnaissance mission as many of her first ones were, trying to find sources of leaked information. Like any big company, Jessup was full of moles, and for a while, it was her job to seek them out and confirm them, before someone else got a target mission for them.

That one had been much the same, a sloppy mistake leading to the capture torture giving her a painful lesson she never forgot and heeded well.

She was fifteen, almost sixteen when _she_ was the one receiving the target mission.

Garrett Ortega, a man who worked as a contractor for Jessup from time to time selling them bulk supplies for various chemicals or whatever else they needed that couldn't be legally obtained. Apparently Ortega had been keeping well organized tabs on Jessup as well as a few other major clients of his, with plans in the works to overthrow them once they started to gain profit from whatever it was they were doing with the things he sold them. Not that Kateri had known any of that until _much_ later. Ortega was smart, he kept careful record of what he sold to them and how much of it he did and was able to deduce a few of the final products and had just been waiting for them to be developed before striking. Then, swoop in and steal the goods before selling them himself.

That is, until Kateri had arrived and put an arrow through his neck.

She remembered it all too clearly. She'd missed three previous chances to take the shot because her hands were shaking too badly. She was afraid she'd miss and get caught and tortured again. She didn't want to kill someone, but then again, no one ever did.

But this man was a criminal. Someone who's killed civilians without batting an eye just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Someone who had killed his own men before, if he suspected even an ounce of disloyalty. Someone who'd killed and stolen and hurt so many people over menial things. He was a bad man.

She had to remind herself of this for her hands to steady long enough to take the shot.

She still had nightmares about it to this day. Months later, she'd found out he'd had a daughter, a girl named Maci. She was only eight at the time her father had been killed, and ended up living with her aunt. Kateri's certainty began to falter after that.

Before then, she had told herself she was doing more good than harm. These were awful people who only hurt others. The world was better off without people like them. A part of her knew that was still true, but it doesn't justify what she did in the slightest. It was selfish to think it was okay to take away someone else's parents for the sake of getting back her own.

Just over a year later, she was first given the mission for Rex.

She'd heard of the strange EVO boy who could cure other EVOs. Of course she had. Rex had half of what they wanted in the palm of his hands. He could obviously control the nanites to some degree if he could activate and deactivate them, but they wanted to know how far the control extended.

She hadn't know much of anything about the nanite project Jessup was working on. She'd been given very minimal information on it, and only deduced some things after learning their goals with Rex. They wanted to know how he controlled nanites, which means _they_ wanted to know how to control them.

Her task was to try and get close to him, lure him away from Providence so he could be brought in. Jessup had managed to dig up some information out of Providence's old files on some kind of Omega nanite, something that enable Rex to have a deeper connection, and therefore control, with nanites. Jessup wanted to reverse engineer it to weaponize it.

They didn't actually want _Rex_ for anything, just the nanite. He was innocent, and she didn't want to hurt him. No matter how many times she was given target missions, it didn't make taken someone's life any easier, regardless how how much more collected she became with each one. She didn't want to hurt people who didn't deserve it, and Rex didn't deserve it. He used his abilities to help people, and Kateri found it rather noble. He had the power to do many bad things in his hands, and no one could really stop him, but instead he chose to help others with it.

She thought it would be a simple mission, but the more she watched him, the more she didn't want to do _anything_ to him, and the idea formed in her mind that she could possible get him to help her bring Jessup down.

She watched him from a distance for about six months before deciding to make a move. Elrich was getting antsy and she didn't want to push too much longer and get pulled off the mission entirely. She had more morals then about ninety percent of the other's like her. She wasn't technically a mercenary, but as she grew more effective at target missions and was given more, being one of the few who used a silent long distance weapon and excelled in stealth, she'd begun to think of herself as such. Someone who killed people for money.

Oh, she got paid. She averaged roughly eighty thousand per target, give or take how big of a target it was, and in a matter of months was being given them at least once a month. She'd gotten over two hundred thousand before for taking down one of the biggest moles for Jessup to date, a woman named Melanie Estevez, who was selling information on some of the most confidential projects in the entire company. Since Jessup also paid for her apartment in full(albeit at the price of it being bugged), nearly all of it went into savings or anonymously to charities, as well as a small thread connected to her parents house for things like taxes she she didn't really keep up with. She could probably retire by the time she was thirty five, honestly. She'd volunteered to 'sponsor', for lack of a better word, the expenses for all the victims who wished to return home after recovering at Providence and it had barely made a dent.

So, she had _quite_ a bit of rainy day money saved, a bit of it invested in stocks for her pipedream future when she finally broke away, and while they did do well, she couldn't care either way. The money was less than nothing to her, knowing that most of it was blood money.

Kateri sighed and shook her head, resisting the urge to card a hand through her hair, something she couldn't do with the wig on. Actually, she wanted to attack her scalp with her nails since it was so ridiculously itchy, but she pushed it away. She had about four more false identities left, and only one of them had the brown hair that would require the wig.

Pulling out her phone, having switched the case as well for good measure to a spring green one with gold glitter, she checked the time. She was supposed to meet them in about fifty two hours, and she doubted she would be sleeping any of that time. She'd arrive in Sacramento in the early morning if she kept up her current pace, _hopefully_ under Jessup's radar, but she doubted this with her current nanite situation, so she planned to stall until late the next day so she had time to formulate a little more of plan.

What exactly _was_ her plan going to be? She had no intention of trying to do another massive breakout like she'd done before. Not only was Jessup expecting her and likely tracking her movements by now, but they'd also probably be prepared for foul play. Not to mention the fact she had no form of help with her. Even if Holiday tracked down Jessup's headquarters, which she had no doubt she would, she doubted she'd be kept there. Jessup was decently well known in the medical industry for the biomedical science they hid behind, so anyone with access to Google and passed the tenth grade could find it. She also was sure Providence wouldn't go near it, not only for that obvious fact, but also because it would only come back to her and they knew that.

There was no one coming for her.

After paying the cabbie, she stepped out and slipped into a gas station, just putting on her regular clothes. She'd spent about fourteen hours pretending to be five different people. She just wanted to be Kateri for a while.

She crossed the street before going into a coffee shop, a familiar head of brown hair raising at the jingle of the door as a pair of hazel brown eyes met hers.

"Hey, Kate!" Danny began with a grin. "Back in town for a bit?"

"Yeah, for a while." she replied for a forced smile. "I leave tomorrow, though, just passing through."

"Cool, well, nice to see you dropped by. Anything I can get you?" he asked.

"Ugh, a triple espresso." she replied with a grimace.

"Jeez, pulling an all nighter?" he asked with a crooked smile, clicking at the screen in front of him.

"Something like that. Business trip." she said. A mild term, but an accurate one.

"Really? You're eighteen and making business trips?" he asked, curious.

"Yeah. Got in way too deep with a big company and now I have the everloving pleasure of being at their beck and call." Maybe a bit too much bitterness in that one, but Danny didn't comment.

"Well, at least you've got your life figured out early. Makes thing easier in the long run." he commented before calling out her order to the girl, Sam, she's seen one before. The side of her hair that had been blond was now a dark, but vivid, purple.

"I wouldn't exactly say that." she murmured.

"So, um...not that it's any of my business, but how have things been going with you?" he asked, eyes flicking to her neck for a moment before settling back on her face. "You seem a little stressed."

"That's one way to put it." she laughed humorlessly. "I guess my job just asks a lot of me, and it can be hard to do everything when I'm the only one doing it."

"You some kind of secretary or something?"

"Not exactly." She replied, trying to think of a way to phrase her next words without giving anything away. "I basically do the dirty work, run the errand no one wants to." Accurate enough.

"Sounds rough."

"You have _no_ idea."

They stood in companionable silence for a few minutes, her order coming up. She sipped at the too hot liquid, the burning on her tongue clearing her head a little.

"This...this may sound a little out of line," Danny began. "But...do you mind if I take you to dinner? As friends." he said quickly. "You just seem really weighed down right now, and I think you just need a friend. Even if that friend is a barista from a little coffee show you've met like four times."

The 'no' was already on the tip of her tongue before he even finished his sentence, but the genuine look in his eyes made it falter. Her hand flitted to her neck a half second before she remembered the familiar weight of the arrowhead necklace wasn't there.

The motion wasn't lost on Danny, ever perceptive as he was. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to rub in a breakup or something, I just-"

"No, it's fine." she cut him off. "It...it wasn't exactly a breakup, not like that. It's because of my job. I thought it would be better, I didn't want anyone to get hurt over everything they ask of me."

"Oh." Danny glanced down, unsure how to respond.

"You know what? I think I'll actually take you up on that." She broke the silence, surprised herself by the words that came from her mouth. "You're right, I could use a friend. Pretty sure I'm about to get a lot of hell, I could stand to loosen up."

Danny's eyes brightened. "I get off at six. I, uh, don't know where you live, or I'd pick you up…"

"It's fine, I have a few errands to run anyways, I can just come back here." she said. "Really, I appreciate it."

"It's no big deal, really. Glad I could cheer you up a little." he said.

"Thanks." she said. "I'm gonna run, though, got some things I have to-actually, do you think you could do me a favor?"

(*)

Kateri wasn't sure why she'd gone back, her eyes not even having glanced at the faded sign that still burned clear in her memory from her youth, reading _Klance Ave_. Even now, as she'd stared a hole in the door, she couldn't fathom why she would return here.

Despite that, she still pulled her keys from her pocket, sticking the slightly rusty one and jiggling it into the sticky lock before walking into her home.

Nothing had changed since the last time she'd come here. Nostalgia still clung to every surface possible, and dust lay in thick layers to everything besides the pictures on the walls.

 _Won't take nothin' but a memory from the house that built me…_

The soles of her boots made almost no sound on the floor as she walked, dust muffling her steps, slight indents still on the floor from her last excursion here. She briefly recalled her mother lecturing her on the importance of keeping the house clean and before she even realized what she was doing, she had grabbed a broom and was sweeping.

Her 'errands' were composed entirely of grabbing the last couple of things she needed to fully pull off all of her aliases, leaving her backpack full and the zipper a bit difficult to close and swinging by the post office to get her weapons where she'd mailed them. She still had about five hours of down time, and cleaning her childhood home from top to bottom seemed as good as a pass time as any. If anything, it kept her distracted.

The old bristle broom left streaks in the dust on their first pass, but thirty minutes of sweeping later, every sweepable surface was clean, and she began to dust.

She had to switch the end of the duster four times from the amount that clung to it, but about two hours later, it _actually_ looked like a place people might live. She'd even taken all the old bedspreads out to the backyard and beat them free of the dust on a tree before replacing them.

Despite the coffee she'd chugged earlier, weariness settled into her body like a winter coat that had been left in the rain. Not wanting to spend more time in her own head than she had to, Kateri set an alarm on her phone before curling up on top of her bed over the faded old coral reef comforter, not even bothering to grab the pillow that's cover was now wrapped around Bean's remains, falling asleep in seconds.

(*)

Kateri ducked into the coffee shop a few minutes before six, finding it surprisingly busy considering the time of day. She'd been woken by her alarm thirty minutes prior, jolting her from a shockingly dreamless sleep. She was better rested from it than she'd expected to be, and though she was still exhausted, she'd take the small victories she could get.

"Sorry." Danny spoke when she approached the counter. "The rush kicked in a little late, it might be a few minutes."

"It's fine, no hurry." she replied easily, stepping back and settling into one of the unoccupied tables. Many of them were occupied by college age people with their noses buried in some form of computer, phone or tablet.

She'd ultimately decided that having no plan going into Jessup was her best option. Any plan she could think of was useless, always running into something that she wouldn't be able to conquer on her own. Her best and, really only, option, was to take whatever she had coming for her.

Her hands automatically reached for the short length of worn paracord what was always in her pocket and she began to absently twist it together into a snake knot.

She then registered a voice speaking from behind the counter.

" _...riously, just go dude, I can handle this. Don't keep her waiting."_ She glanced over to the the girl the the purple undercut shooing Danny away. Kateri noticed for the first time that the girl spoke with a moderate Southern accent.

"It's just dinner, Sam, not a date, stop smirking like that! I swear we're just friends!" he protested.

"Either way, don't make her wait. I'll take the heat with Brown, it's ultimately Morgan's shift you took. Go." She leaned over she bumped his with her hip to push him away from the counter as she greeted the next person in line.

"Thanks Sam, I owe you one." he said gratefully.

"Eh, I'd say half one one, but no worries." she replied.

Danny slipped to the back for a couple minutes, emerging without the blue apron he'd been wearing previously.

"Sorry about that. I don't usually work afternoons, but a co-worker had to babysit her little brother so I took the shift." Danny explained.

"It's fine. I'm pretty familiar with how real life can get in the way sometimes." Kateri replied easily. She glanced around the busy cafe. "Can she really keep up with all this herself?"

Danny nodded. "Nick comes in for the night shift in a couple hours, but when she actually wants to, Sam can be a one woman army. Not gonna lie, she can sometimes be a lazy worker, but if she puts her mind to it, she can literally be everywhere at once. She can handle it for a couple hours."

"I feel like there's a story behind that statement." Kateri commented as they exited the coffee shop.

"There is. Monday morning are, predictably, the busiest, and one day this girl Summer who was working here at the time, called in, so it was just her. Brown called me in, but I had a group session for school that ended at ten, so I was a little late, but when I showed up, she had somehow kept up with both the register, making orders _and_ cleaning the tables pretty well through the rush. Like, on slower days, she's definitely the type to procrastinate everything, but when things really need to get done, she pulls through way better than anyone expects." he told her.

Kateri nodded as they stopped at Danny's car, an older blue Nissan that could probably use a decent car wash, but was otherwise pretty clean on the inside. He pulled open the passenger door from her, taking her backpack. She ducked in and he shut the door, dropping her bag in the backseat.

"So, there's this little diner over on Solangelo, Dee's?" Danny began after slipping into the driver's seat. She caught a glance at the Minecraft keychain dangling from his keys.

"Yeah, I know where you're talking about. Sounds good." she replied.

"Cool. You ready?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

The car hummed to life, and they pulled away from the curb.

 **This chapter is super boring and filler-y and I don't like it, but I've gone back and messed with it so many times I just gave up. Honestly, the next couple chapters are kinda boring and depressing, and I'm sorry about that. Lol, I vanish for a few months and come back with this, I am the embodiment of class. This section of the story was boring as hell to write, so I know it's boring to read, but I tried to keep it as realistically brief as I could.**

 **Also, a note on this story in general. I've honestly lost my spark with it. I still have my outline for it, and I love the characters and the universe I've created, and I** ** _will_** **be finishing it(I've gotten this far, I won't abandon it now), but I think this is going to be my last big project for a long time. I have a couple old stories I want to go back and edit and just clean up in general(as well as a couple I still want to finish), and I switch fandoms too quickly to see out long projects like this, and it reflects in the stories. You can tell exactly where I start getting bored with it, and I don't like that. This chapter, for example, is not a good example of the writing I know I can produce. I know for a fact I can do better than this chapter, but I have no inspiration for it. The first half of this story was written within two months, and now it seems to take me that long to turn out one or two chapters.**

 **But my point, is I'm honestly ready to see this story end. I made my plot pretty complex with a lot of characters, to the point it confuses me sometimes, and it can be** **exhausting** **to write because I have so much to keep track of. Looking back, there are a lot of things I would have(and should have) done differently for the sake of the flow of the story, because it's become incredibly choppy.**

 **Sorry, I'm rambling. This has been knocking around my head for a long time, and I could go on and on.**

 **So yeah, if you're worried about this getting discontinued, don't worry, it's not. I don't like leaving loose ends, so it will get finished.**

 **I do have plans to put up the next chapter soon, I'm working on this story as much as my inspiration will let me in an attempt to finish it.**

 **Thank you all so much for your patience and for those who have stuck with this story for so long. I think this all started a little over four years ago, and to think that some of you are still here blows my mind, and I couldn't be more thankful.**


	27. Yin and Yang

**So, I wanna give a shoutout to Geekno on this one. They PMed me(earlier today actually), and asked what the hell happened to me. I could spew a bunch of excuses, but I'll spare you. I'll have a proper note at the bottom, but for now I'll just let y'all read. Sorry it took so long, but I hope y'all like it!**

Music hummed softly through his headphones and Rex leaned back on the table. Though his stats hadn't changed significantly in years, Holiday still insisted on a regular check of his biometrics. They had become more of a formality than anything, the results often just briefly scanned to see they were still the same before being logged away.

His music tastes had been pretty bland recently, this time being on an old Monstercat podcast he'd downloaded. He'd begun to shy away from some of his other music, memories of all the times...she and Rex had fallen into long conversations over music. She listened to an enormous range of music, but they had many mutual favorite bands. Right now, the reminder was still too raw and he didn't want to push himself any farther into the hole he'd fallen into.

He could feel, rather than hear, the machine humming around him. It used to agitate his nanites and make his skin feel like it was crawling, but Rex had grown so accustomed to the sensation that he barely noticed it anymore. Holiday had wanted to do one after his return from Abuela's, to see if they could pull any of the information on...her nanites, from his. Since he was finally able to connect with them on a biometric level, it goes without saying that the data from that should be logged in his nanites. Many of the details were blurry, Rex not really caring enough to remember.

A few minutes later, the cot slid out of the machine and Rex sat up, letting his headphones fall around his shoulders.

"Got anything?" he asked, trying to put even an ounce of emotion behind his voice.

"You regular readings are coming up normal, but I am seeing another chunk of new data." Caesar replied. "It'll take me a bit to get it all sorted out, but whatever it is, it's there. Huh, it looks like it recorded some of the connections from the other nanites as well…"

Rex zoned out once his brother stopped talking directly to him and started rambling. Slipping his jacket back on, he headed off to find Holiday.

There were a few things he needed to talk about.

(*)

Of all places, he ended up finding Holiday at one of the sparring decks. She and Six were subtle about their relationship, keeping almost all work interactions strictly professional, but should they both have any downtime, the pair had taken to one on one sparring. It had originally been Holiday's idea, since there would be times where she would have to do field work, and having better fighting skills was always something useful, and it allowed them to spend time together in a way that made everyone happy.

Rex would be lying if he didn't envy it a little.

He lingered outside the deck for about twenty minutes before they stopped, not wanting to interrupt.

"Oh, Rex!" Holiday cut off whatever she was saying when she saw the teen leaning against the wall outside the door, rubbing at the sweat at her forehead with a towel. "Was there something you needed?"

"Yeah, I was gonna see if you could talk for a while?" he asked.

"Of course. Same time tomorrow?" She asked over her shoulder, where Six nodded.

Rex was certain that times like this were the only ones where he didn't see Six in his trademark green suit, instead wearing a pair of the fitted pants the field agents would wear and a gray T-shirt. It was almost jarring.

"Of course."

They parted ways and Rex trailed after Holiday back to her office, the door thunking closed behind him. It was equally as odd to see Holiday behind her desk in sweats that bunched below the knee and an athletic shirt instead of her usual ensemble as it was to see Six. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I...I think there's some things I should tell about about h-her, that no one said anything about before. I know I shouldn't have hidden anything, but she asked me not to. I couldn't go behind her back. Not unless I had to." he finally said.

Holiday nodded, not missing the way he refused to say her name. No, she wasn't exactly thrilled they hid things, but she also fully understood why. Trust was an immensely important thing to Kateri as much as is was delicate, and Holiday knew that she sheer fact that she trusted Rex as much as she did spoke volumes, and she understood that he wouldn't want to break that bond unless it was absolutely necessary.

This also told her that Rex was bordering on desperate.

"So I'm assuming that you're at the point where you feel like you have to." More a statement than a question.

"Something like that. Part of me is hoping to see if it can help puzzle together where she went." he admitted. "So, I guess we can start with the big one. I found out, um, two weeks ago I think? That she's been hallucinating. Not like the, 'are the walls moving' kind of hallucinating, when you don't get enough sleep. She told me, sort of, that she's been seeing Abe, Salem and Ema."

"Her missing friends?"

Rex nodded. "She didn't exactly just come out and tell me. It was late one night and I heard talking, but when I opened the door, no one was there. We talked about it for a bit, and apparently it's been happening since a couple weeks after she got here."

"I'm not completely surprised. It's not unheard of for such a thing to happen, denial plays a significant role in it. Do you know how often she sees them?"

"No, I didn't...really get a chance to ask about it…" he trailed off. "Uh, something else. When I walked in, apparently Salem, the one she was talking to at the time, didn't disappear. She told me usually they just vanish when other people show up."

 _That_ was a bit more concerning. It meant they were growing more vivid and the line of reality was getting blurred for the girl, whether she knew it or not. It also told her that some part of Kateri acknowledged that it was safe enough to maintain the illusion around Rex, but this was far less pertinent at the time and took a backburner in Holiday's mind.

"Anything else?" she prodded.

"Um, less relevant, but she told me that she's learning to control her nanites, I think? Not like I do, but she had a current going and told me it wasn't shocking her. Something about the current staying on an external level and not using her body as a conductor. Honestly, it doesn't mean much to me right now, but I figured it might be helpful to you and my brother with figuring out her nanites a little." He runned the back of his head.

This one came as a bit more of a surprise. "That tells me her nanites are coding themselves faster than I originally thought. That may be useful, both for us and for her. If she's gaining more control over them, then it could give her an advantage over them."

Rex's eyes sparked with interest, the first light she'd seen in them since his return from the village. "Really? Do you think she knows that?"

Holiday hesitated before answering. "It's doubtful, at best, though it's something she may discover on her own if they try to tamper with them again."

Rex deflated, but there was a spark of hope that remained in his eyes. "But there's a chance?"

"A small one, but yes."

It wasn't much, no, but it was currently all he had, so he was going to cling to it.

"As far as tracking her down, there aren't things that can get us any closer." Holiday didn't want to dampen his hopes, but she knew she had to be realistic.

"Right, I figured as much." Rex said. "But I remember where we were staying when I was MIA, which I was kind of hoping could help."

"I would say so."

"Okay, so it was this little motel in Arizona…"

(*)

Caesar rubbed his eyes, and took a sip of his third(fourth?) cup of coffee, and even his mind was starting to ramble. He'd been working at the coding for Kateri's nanites for a while now, some of it sorted off to the side where the original coding for normal nanites lie. He was more than familiar with it. What remained was...complicated, at best. Whoever was behind this mess clearly didn't have enough knowledge of nanites to genuinely know what they were doing, because the coding was an absolute _wreck_. That said, it _did_ still generally function the way Kateri had told him it was supposed to.

In a nutshell, it fully changed what tune the nanites responded to, in order to isolate the method of control. He'd also discovered a pathway for the signal to come through, but that was where it began to get more jumbled.

He'd analyzed samples taken from the other's they'd rescued, all coming from blood samples. No one wanted to try something on the actual victims, they'd been through enough. Some of them just had normal readings. Rex had told him they'd been grouped out by who had been "broken" and who hadn't. The ones who hadn't came up with normal readings. The others, though, were just one trainwreck after another, each one slightly different from the last.

With a little tinkering, he'd managed to just deactivate all of the nanites from the samples he took. It wasn't something he could do to the actual people, as it involved a controlled electrical burst to overload them, but it also kept them intact and he was able to gather readings(this hadn't worked with Kateri's because her's were so volatile they would combust). Alice's nanites were the ones he'd dug into the most, having been the priority in order to stabilize her. From what he gathered, they were trying to do too much with too little direction, until they just began to attack her body. He finally managed to reverse engineer this enough to keep her stable, but it had ended up a rather painful process for the girl, though it was one she took in stride and without complaint. He hadn't figured out how to switch them back to the tune they were supposed to be on, so what he did was, essentially, hack them and forced in some coding of his own to dampen down their effects, but ultimately, it was effective.

Alice had been over the moon at the information, and while she'd probably have health problems earlier in life than she should due to the damage they had already done, they shouldn't have any more negative side effects. After some physical therapy, she should be fine for the foreseeable future.

Kira's were much more of a mystery. They were in a constant state of overworking themselves, which is what caused them to heat up, and by extension, her body. He'd yet to figure out a way to fix this would just causing them to combust. The cooling suit was a temporary solution, but he was certain he'd find a way.

Kateri's, however, were just too volatile to do much of anything. Whatever they had done to her had been very half-baked and shoddy, which was why they would electrocute her the moment they became agitated. It didn't help matters(for him) that they were in a constant state of trying to self-repair, so the data was constantly changing.

Hers had the gaps to allow for an input signal, but once it was there, they registered it as a foreign signal and attacked it, which it was why it was so painful whenever Rex tried to connect with them. But it was something they were on a constant search for, which was why hers were so active. Like trying to organize a group without anyone leading it.

"Wait, that's it!"

(*)

"You said she didn't live far from this motel?" Holiday had begun jotting notes on Rex's story, her pen flicking curly script through a notebook.

"Yeah, that it wasn't more than a few miles away. I feel like she may have gone there, or at least close to it." Rex replied. "I know that she was staying in the area when she left before, but I don't think it was there. She said that Jessup had full surveillance over it."

Holiday's lip twitched. The notion that these people would do such a thing left a bitter taste in her mouth. "So where do you think she was staying?"

"I'm not sure…" His brows furrowed as he pushed through conversations, his chest growing tight. But he recalled a certain fondness in her voice whenever she'd talk about the area, and she seemed to know it pretty well. "I feel like she's got a history there. I remember her knowing where practically everything was."

"Do you think she might have lived there before she worked for them?"

"I think it's possible, and it would make a lot of sense." He gave a dry chuckle. "Honestly, I think she's a lot more sentimental that anyone knows. She probably wanted to stay close to home."

"Hm." Holiday circled that little tidbit. _That_ was something she could definitely work with. "Anything else?"

"I don't think so...wait, she mentioned meeting someone at a coffee shop. Danny, I think his name was? Made a comment about how he stopped upcharging the espresso to try and cheer her up. Dunno if that helps, but every little thing counts, right?"

"It certainly does."

"Okay, well, I told Noah I'd meet up with him to go see a movie. He's trying to make me do things to keep me distracted." Rex managed a small, but sincere, smile.

"He's a good friend."

"Yeah. He is."

Holiday's eyes lingered on the door for a few seconds before she turned to her computer.

Kateri's past was almost nonexistent, but her father's was less so.

Time to start digging.

(*)

"Dude, I'm so mad. When Claire just marched up and said 'Logan dies', I thought she was kidding." Noah ranted as the two teens exited the theater. "Then I was sure she was talking about the stupid clone, but _nooo_ , she was completely right and now I'm just pissed."

"I mean, come on, he's not supposed to be able to die!" Rex chimed in, throwing his hands up. "The dude from Origins had his _head_ cut off and he was still alive. I was totally waiting for his fist to come up through the rocks."

"I know, right?!"

"I mean, _Wolverine doesn't just die!"_

They stopped when the boys realized several people had started glaring at them.

"Thanks for ruining the ending, asshole." One girl said, holding a drink as she walked to the theater.

"Oops…" Rex murmured, before he and Noah both burst into laughter.

"But seriously, I can _kinda_ see why they did it, because I know the actor was quitting the role, but they just had to shank you and rub salt in it when they did it." Noah continued, quieter now.

"At least we got an epic boss fight out of it."

"Touché."

They finally made it out of the cinema and out of range of the other's watching the movie, dusk finally beginning to settle as the sky was painted in a blurred sea of pinks, oranges and magentas. If he tilted his head back far enough, Rex could _just_ see the dots of a couple sparse stars beginning to peek through.

"So, you seem to be holding up a little better." Noah noted.

Rex's smile shrank just a fraction. "Yeah, I guess. I talked to Doc today, to see if maybe we can find out where she went."

Noah's eyes flicked to the sky for a long moment. "Rex...you're my best friend. You know I care about you. That's why I'm going to say, please don't let your hopes get too high.I don't want to think about what would happen if they were let down, in a bigger way than before."

"I understand what you're saying, but right now, this is probably the biggest shot I have. I know I can't put everything on it, but I also can't ignore that there may be a real chance here." he said.

"I know. I just want you to be careful."

"I will."

(*)

"Oh, now _that's_ something." Holiday clicked through a few links before hacking into some old government records. It looked like the deed to the old Begay house had been transferred to a Catherine Blackson. Catherine was the English version of Kateri's name, and after a bit of research, she discovered Begay was the Navajo word for son, a fairly common last name for them, clearly a combination of that and her preferred surname. It couldn't be anyone else. "So that house is yours."

She also noted a few inconsistencies as to how it was obtained by "Catherine", left to her in a will that stood on shaky ground, a retation to Yiska by distance, that, upon further digging, didn't exist beyond a couple years. It was honestly a very sloppy identity, but it was more than enough for the purposes it served, as it was clean enough on the surface to keep any attorney from digging too deep.

She tried to track the history of how it was being paid for as far as property taxes and such went, but it was throwing her places like Bengal, Chile, and even the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and she went in circles for almost an hour before moving on. It looked like Ema had gotten her hands on it, and Holiday was thoroughly impressed with the skill required for such a thing. She would have loved to meet the girl, from what Kateri her said, a challenge of intellect would have been quite interesting, even if Holiday wasn't so sure she'd win.

She also researched local coffee shops, and picked through their records, finding two with a Daniel employed, one being sixteen, the other nineteen. One was quite literally down the street from Kateri's house, and had been there for about twenty years. The other was a few blocks away, and was a bit more recent, coming up on it's nine year anniversary of opening. Both were possibilities.

It wasn't a whole lot, but it was a lead. And evidently, a road trip to Arizona was in order.

(*)

Rex stretched his arms up over his head, opening his mouth into a wide yawn. Honestly, socializing in general was pretty exhausting now, but part of him was glad he did it. He couldn't just shut down because of this. It was okay to be upset and drained he knew that, but he also knew he still had a job to do and people who relied on him to do that job.

"Rex!"

Rex turned to see his brother jogging down the hall at him, mouth stretched wide in a grin that instantly told Rex that he'd probably drank way too much coffee. He was holding a tablet in one hand and a notebook in the other, and Rex could see several fluttering pages that were covered in a rough scribble that amounted to his handwriting. Rex had no idea how he could read it.

"Uh…?"

"Little brother, I think I got it!"

"Got...what, exactly?" Rex asked cautiously, honestly a bit too tired to try and keep up with his brother's caffeine induced hype.

"I think I know how to fix their nanites!"

Well, _that_ was certainly a good way to perk Rex right back up. "Wait, _what?_ When did this happen?"

"I was going over the samples taken from everyone and running them against the data we got from your nanites. The coding is a complete mess, but the nanites have been self repairing around it. Kinda like reading a book where some of the words are in another language, but you learn bits along the way until you can understand it-"

"Where are you going with this?" Rex cut in, breaking Caesar's rambling short.

"What was Kateri's original mission when she first showed up?" Caesar asked.

"Uh, something to do with my Omega nanite, I think? Why?" Rex was getting more confused by the second.

"That's because it's the piece of the puzzle they were always missing. They needed something to regulate the unstable nanites, something that knew how to tell them what to do. But they didn't have the knowledge on how to build it themselves, so they wanted yours." Excitement sparked in Caesar's eyes as the pieces began to fall into place for Rex.

"But you do."

"Precisely. So I'm going to do exactly what they were wanting to do, but better."

Rex's eyes widened. "You're going to build them Omega's."

"Yes! Well, kind of. I can build something similar, something to control and regulate the unstable ones and balance them out." Caesar clarified.

"Do you think it will work?" Rex asked, daring to hope further.

"The theory is sound. Kira's will actually be the easiest since all I should need to do is calm the activity to keep them from overheating. I will need to make them separately for each person, but hypothetically, it would work." Caesar affirmed.

"And…?"

Caesar's excited grin softened. "I'm certain if I can get it to work for them, I can get it to work for her, too. It's not over yet, _hermano_."

Rex's entire body felt like it was tingling. He was honestly a little wary of it. Things were clicking into place a _little_ too fast and easily, and he worried they'd get almost within reach and some hidden caveat would finally catch up and everything would slip through their fingers. That _she_ would slip through _his_ fingers.

It was a terrifying notion.

But he wanted so desperately to believe it could work out like that. That maybe Jessup wasn't actually _that_ good, that Providence was better. After all, five teenagers was all it took to bring their biggest and most secure lab to literal ruins.

 _But at what cost?_

Rex wanted to believe it more than he did. He had more faith in his family than anyone, but he couldn't deny the empire Jessup had built for themselves, either. Jessup had to know they were coming for them. They had kept so locked down for so long because people like Kateri worked for them. Rex knew firsthand that she was damn good at her job, no matter how much she'd hated it, and he had no idea how high up on the ladder she was, but there was bound to be plenty more like her. People that existed to keep people like him and Providence from getting too close.

 _We only succeeded because she had inside information in the first place and had been planning this for years._

 _Without her friends, we would have never succeeded._

 _They'll be expecting someone to come for her, they'll just kill her._

More and more doubt swirled in his mind as it took on a life of its own.

But any chance at all was still a chance. He'd gotten through dozens of situations where success was nothing more than a distant memory. Who was he to doubt the capabilities of his own friends now?

His mind was a jumbled mess, and had been for the past two days.

 _It had only been two days? It felt like he'd lost years._

"This is probably exactly why no one will leave me alone." he murmured into his empty room, not quite remembering deciding to come back here. Bobo had "moved" back in(see, put his hammock back up and started sleeping in there again), but the simian was likely currently sneaking into the cafeteria again. It made it easy for his thoughts to start bearing down on him, but he refused to break. There was a chance, so his hope was still there.

Sighing, Rex stood. Sitting and letting his worries and anxieties eat him alive wasn't going to get anyone anywhere.

He made his way down to the docking bay, sparing only the shortest glance to the silver motorcycle tucked in the corner, covered in a white tarp.

Stepping through the massive door that was almost always open, Rex glanced up at the night sky, painted an inky navy with a heavy handed spray of twinkling white lights filling the glittering expanse.

Reaching up, he slid his goggles over his eyes, feeling a gentle and familiar internal whir as the wide span if twin propellers stretched out on either side of him. He took off in a run and threw himself into a dramatic swan dive over the edge of the pad, allowing himself to freefall for a few seconds into the deep trench that lie just below before the propellers kicked to life and pulled his body upwards. He climbed higher and higher until he could see the condensation from the clouds on his goggles.

Tilting his flight downward, be spread his arms out and spun a few times, shaking the stray droplets free and running his hands through his, now slightly damp, hair.

He always used to love flying. It made him feel like he could conquer the world, and even now, it still relaxed him, but it felt more disjointed than it should have. Like he was too light. Missing the weight on someone's arms secured around his shoulders, the feeling of long hair ghosting over the back of his neck. The chiming laugh and the soft smile, the warm toffee skin and the sparkling green eyes.

It was strange, to feel so heavy, yet so light. It didn't feel wrong, but it didn't feel right, either. It was like missing something important to keep a machine working properly, but not quite enough to keep it from working entirely. But without it, it would always be running at half power.

Rex know his life wasn't some cheap romance novel. He wouldn't wither and die without her by his side, but he also knew he wouldn't be the same.

But, really, he was okay with that.

Rex was far from stupid, and was not nearly as naïve as people might think. He knew thier chances of success were slim. He knew there was a chance it could all be for nothing. But he also wouldn't change anything that had happened. Every moment he'd spent with her was now a part of who he was. They had changed each other in so many ways. He'd give anything to get her back, but should he fail, he would also cherish every one of those moments for the rest of his life. She had taught him to be more grounded and he taught her how to be more wild. It had become a solid balance of yin and yang.

She had also taught him that sometimes, you just had to do things on your own, but he taught her that it was okay to need help and to let yourself rely on others. From her, he'd learned that damaged didn't mean weak, but it also didn't mean bulletproof. From him, she'd learned that wisdom didn't only come from pain and poor choices, but proper guidance as well.

They shared many similarities in things like music taste, love for spicy food, and an unyielding desire to protect those they cared for. But they were also different in many ways. She loved the ocean, and had dreamt of going to its depths and seeing what secrets held, whereas if Rex never went in his life it would be too soon. Despite her love of flying, she wasn't a huge fan of heights. Not afraid of them, per se, but she didn't get a thrill from the ground shrinking away to a dot like Rex did. She was riddled with insecurities, while Rex was arguably too confident in many things.

But they could balance one another. Rex could show her that a slew of bad choices didn't make her a bad person. She could show him that sometimes tackling a situation head on wouldn't be the best way to accomplish something. She taught him that it was wise to be careful who you trusted, but he taught her that trusting people wasn't a weakness.

They had learned an incredible amount from one another in what was really a very short period. They had known one another for just over three months now, but had gone through enough to amount to years.

He had become her yin and she had become his yang. Capable of existing as separate, but stronger as a whole.

"I'm going to find you, Kateri. I promise."

 **Tbh, this is barely edited. I checked the date on the Google Doc, and this chapter was last touched in November(not necessarily started, that's just when it got finished). I lowkey can't stand my old writing, so I skimmed it at best. I don't actually hate it as much as I thought I would, but I'm still not** **entirely** **happy with it, but that's become my writing in general at this point. I'm ready to put this story to bed, and in my opinion, finished is better than perfect. If I wait for that, it will never be finished.**

 **This brings me to something else. Back when I spent about 75% of my time in school working on Arrow of Trust and then this, I was cranking out a chapter every 2-3 days at least. That was almost 2 years ago, and I'm sure it's pretty clear my output is in the toilet now. My time, recently, has gone down even more. I got promoted to a department manager at my job, which while I'm psyched about that as I like where I work, it's also added about 50% more hours to my schedule. I'm also moving out soon, and apartment hunting for someone with no rental history is...hard, to say the least.**

 *****PLEASE READ*****

 **That said, I DO have about 5 buffer chapters. You may be thinking "Lumi, if you have buffer chapters** ** _what the hell is up with the radio silence?_** **" Well, past me is a idiot and decided not posting the next buffer until I finished the next chapter and the end of the line of buffers was the smart thing to do. Which, effectively, defeated the purpose of** ** _having_** **the buffers in the first place. So, I'm asking, would y'all like me to start posting those reserve chapters weekly? So this thing doesn't stay dead?**

 **Also, I've noticed my traffic has gone way down since I moved the story to an M rating. I expected for it to get really gory, but I've lost a lot of the drive to dive into that like I'd originally planned, and it's not going to be anything more graphic than the first one. Would anyone be opposed to me putting it back to a T rating? I'll put a warning in the summary, but the most explicit thing I have in here is the *ahem*** _ **intimate**_ **scene from a while back, which, honestly, isn't graphic and everything is implied.(I'm not good at writing porn and I couldn't bring myself to write it here. That's not what the story is about, it never was and never will be.) The scene has markers so it's fully skippable to anyone who doesn't want to read it, and not that graphic if they do.**

 **So yeah. Thoughts?**

 **I hope y'all liked this. I'm sorry it took so long, but tbh I'm motivated by my desire to just finish this already, so I'm pretty confident in saying it shouldn't be this long a wait again.**

 **Thanks to you guys who still keep sticking with me despite my inconsistencies. Y'all are the actual best.**


	28. Sparks

**Hey, it didn't take six months for me to update this time!**

 **Actually, this would have been up sooner, but I recently moved. I wanted to get this up** ** _before_** **I moved, because I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get wifi, but I have it now, and it's much quieter, so I'm hoping to have more time to finish this.**

 **Sorry if there's any typos, at this point, I can't bring myself to proofread.**

 *****EDIT*****

 **So, like an idiot, I uploaded chapter 27 twice -_-. Here's the aCTUAL chapter. All I did was copy and paste, so the notes are the same.**

The diner hadn't changed much in the eight some odd years it had been since the last time Kateri had been there. The same yellowed lamps hung over each booth, the same ceiling tile just a little ways in front of the door was still a brighter white than the rest from the time some kid tried to get a fork stuck in it and proceeded to knock it down altogether, a story her father had told her. The same tacky turquoise booths that were faded and slightly cracked. Even the same door to the kitchen that never fully shut and was still missing the knob. A soft cloak of nostalgia hung over her.

Danny stepped in behind her from where he'd held open the door, cutting off the brisk night air. "You been here before?"

"Yeah, I used to come here alot when I was a kid, my dad was pretty good friends with the owner." Kateri replied, approaching the girl at the front desk. "Excuse me, is Mike here?"

"I think so, do you want me to go get him?" she asked.

"Sure. Tell him it's Yiska's daughter, please." she asked.

The girl gave her an odd look, but nodded and smiled anyways. "Sure thing. Sit anywhere you like."

Kateri immediately went to the booth third from the back, the same place she always sat with her parents. Danny slid into one side, while she slipped into the other.

"So, you know the owner?" he asked.

"Sort of." She replied. "I was like ten last time I was here, but I'm hoping he'll remember my dad." she replied as a waitress with navy blue and green hair approached them, menus in hand.

"Hi, my name's Izzy, I'll be taking care of you guys tonight. Is there anything I can get you to drink?" she asked.

"Uh, Sprite." Danny said.

"Water's fine." Kateri answered, not wanting to risk anything else in case she got sick again.

"Alright, I'll go grab those for you while you guys take a look at the menu." she smiled before walking away.

"So, um…" Danny tried to start a conversation, but seemed at a loss for words.

"Great opener, what's the punchline?" Kateri asked with a small grin. "I don't bite."

"I know, I just don't really know what to say." he admitted.

"Well, why not start with something easy. Favorite color?" she started.

Danny cracked a grin. "I always hated that question, because blue seems like such a basic answer."

"Well, then what kind of blue? A dark blue, sky blue?" she prodded.

"I guess a dark blue. But not exactly navy. Dark but still vivid." he shrugged. "What about you?"

"Honestly, I'm pretty fond of gray, but as far as actual color goes, I like jewel tones. Forest green, burgundy, plum." She paused. "Wow, I don't think I couldn't have sounded more pretentious if I tried."

Danny laughed. "Nah, it wasn't too bad. Now, if you start getting into the 'dark carmine' or 'dusty eggplant', I might need to stage an intervention."

"Oh my god, I don't think I even know enough about colors to pull some shit like that." Kateri chuckled.

"Kateri Blackfeather!" A voice called, and they turned to see a tall, stocky man emerging from the kitchen, presumably Mike. He spoke with the ever so slightest Spanish accent. "Been a long time since I've seen you around here, you've grown up so much! Where's Yiska, he still owes me ten bucks on that Packers game!"

Kateri's smile shrank a bit. "Yeah, I remember him saying something about that. He passed away about a month ago."

Mike's jovial tone dropped. "Oh, I'm so sorry Kateri. I had no idea, what happened?"

"Work related incident. He wasn't going to wake up so he was taken off life support." she replied vaguely, but it was clear enough she didn't want to delve into the details.

"How awful. Are you doing alright?"

"Hangin' in there." she replied.

"Well, that's good to hear at least." Mike sensed her discomfort over the subject and steered it away. "You've gotten a fair bit taller since I last saw you. And who've we got here?"

"Hi, I'm Danny, a friend of hers." Danny held out a hand, which Mike took with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure to meet you too, Danny, I'm Mike." he then turned back to Kateri. "It was nice to see you again, but unfortunately I'm in the middle of inventory, so I'm afraid I'll have to run. But don't be a stranger, Kateri. You're always welcome here."

"Thanks, will do." she replied, her smile a bit more forced than she'd have liked.

Their waitress, who'd been lingering by the door, came up to the table with a tray balanced easily in one hand, setting thier drinks on the table. "Have you guys had a chance to look over the menu a little yet?"

Kateri glanced at Danny, who nodded.

He got a pretty simple burger and fries while Kateri just got a cup of their soup of the day.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else?" Danny asked.

"Nah, I've been kinda sick lately so I'm careful about what I eat." she replied without thinking, taking a sip of her water.

"You're sick? And going on a business trip?" Danny asked skeptically. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Pretty sure it's just a cold, but I don't want to push it." A mostly true statement.

"Alright." he said slowly, but didn't press the issue. "So, uh, how long have you worked for…?"

"It's basically a biomedical chem company. Like, the people who make vaccines." Not really a lie, either, just not the relevant part, or the part she worked for. "A good few years, actually. Both of my parents worked for them, so I just sort of...ended up there. I don't do any of the actual lab work, though. I guess you could call it a messenger, or an errand girl or something. I'm like that awkward person in the middle who gets information from point A to point B." she said, trying to find a feasible way to word it without making it sound like something out of a shitty spy movie.

"Oh, that's kind of neat. Do you like it at all?"

"Honestly? Not really. I get sent halfway across the globe sometimes, so it can be pretty rough. But I guess everyone has to start somewhere." Wow, she should really write a book on how to bullshit backstories. How To Hide The Fact You're A Mercenary 101. Some New York Times shit right there.

"True enough. What do you actually want to do with your life?"

Not die, for starters. "I never really have a good answer for that. I've always loved the idea of being a marine biologist, but I think aerodynamics would be pretty cool too."

"The ocean, huh?" Danny seemed intrigued.

"Yeah. There's just so much we don't know about it, I think it would be really cool to get to explore it." She pushed the ice in her cup around with the straw. "But I always thought flight was pretty cool, too. Like, how do we manage to get something that can weigh over 400 tons to fly across the world?" She shook her head. "I sound like some nerd rambling, but I honestly have no idea what I'm talking about. What about you, what do you want to do?"

"Well, I'm majoring in Linguistics but I'm also working on a minor in Astronomy. Space is really cool, but I don't know about actually going into space, but I have a knack for languages, so my pipedream is to work as a career linguist for NASA or something. I'd honestly be happy just being a translator, because I'd get to travel the world, but I want to see if I can tie the two together." he replied.

"Really? Do you speak any other languages?" she asked, propping her head up on her hand, elbow resting about a half an inch from the edge of the table.

"I'd like to think I'm pretty fluent in Spanish, and I sort of know French and Italian because they're sister languages, but I'm working on Mandarin right now. It's technically the biggest language in the world, and a lot of businesses have to work through China." he answered, swirling the ice cubes around in his Sprite.

"Jó'akon diné bizzan?" she asked with a coy smile.

"Uh…" Danny gave her a blank look.

"English is technically my second language." she clarified. "Though it's the one I'm most fluent in, I spoke Navajo until I was six."

"Oh, so that's where your accent it from. It's pretty faint, I was gonna guess Hawaiian." he laughed.

"Admittedly, they are similar, but not quite. I don't really use it much anymore, since my parents were the only other people I know of who spoke it, but I try to still use it from time to time so I don't lose it." she said.

"Think you could teach me?" Danny asked, clearly intrigued.

"Uh, maybe?" she replied skeptically. "It's honestly kind of complicated to learn, if I hadn't grown up speaking it, I doubt I'd be able to. Since it's basically a dead language, the grammar structure is terrible and a lot of phrases can mean different things with different context, and there aren't nearly as many individual words. Or, the prefix or suffix of a word will be slightly different, but change the context entirely. Some of the more fine tuned things still confuse me."

"Do you speak any other languages?" he asked.

"I can get by in Spanish, but to a native speaker, it's obvious I'm not fully fluent. I know a few phrases in Russian, but I don't think I could hold a conversation in it. Other than that, no, unless swearing in a few more count." she replied with a grin.

"Just the swears?"

"I had a weird friend."

Before the conversation could go any further, their waitress came out with their food. She slid a cup of chicken tortilla soup in front of Kateri before setting down Danny's burger. "Is there anything else I can get you guys?"

"Nah we're good." Danny said, and Kateri just shook her head.

There was a few minutes of silence as both teens picked at their food.

"Can...Can I ask a really personal question?" Danny began hesitantly.

Kateri didn't answer right away. Questions like that always sent out red flags in her mind. She knew that someone like Danny probably didn't mean her any hard, but she couldn't deny the slim possibility that he could work for Jessup. They'd had people follow her before as she'd begun getting into deeper missions, but never this direct.

"You can ask anything you want." she finally told him. "Whether or not I answer remains to be seen."

"Fair enough. I was just gonna ask why you keep working for this company when they make your life such hell. Like with the guy. You seem like you're really happy with him, so why not just find another job? You don't seem like someone who'd just be in it for the money."

Kateri sighed. "I wish it was that simple. The way my...contract works, is that I can't leave until I've finished out my side of the terms, which I haven't. And I can't just break off and leave anyways."

"But why not? I mean, it's not like they're gonna hire some assassin to go after you." Danny chuckled, and Kateri forced one out as well.

Honestly, that's probably not far off. "With this next job, I'm actually hoping I'll be done. After this, I don't think I have anything else for them."

"Wait, really? That's great!"

"Yeah, I'm just hoping it's not a false alarm. They've hinted at me leaving before, but 'something' always came up." She glanced down at her soup, taking a bite of it so she had an excuse not to elaborate.

"Well then, here's the cookie cutter response of 'I hope it works out'. That's a hard life to live, for anyone." Danny said.

They let the conversation drift in other directions for about another hour, sticking mostly to menial things like the jellyfish tattoo Danny got on his leg when he was drunk and didn't know he had until the next day, or a few of the funny stories Kateri had from her excursions with Ema, Salem and Abe.

"Are you serious? A hole?" Danny laughed.

"No one knows how it got there. I remember the trampoline park was closed for a couple days after that while they got it repaired."

Danny ran a hand through his hair and glanced down at his phone. "Oh shit, it's almost nine, I didn't realize how late it got. I hate to be that ass, but I have a lecture at seven tomorrow."

"No, it's fine, seriously. I have a flight tomorrow anyways." she said quickly. "But it was kinda nice to just hang out with someone, thanks for this."

"No problem. Where do you want me to drop you off?" he asked, waving at the waitress for the ticket.

"Actually, I was just gonna walk. It's like two blocks from here and I really don't mind it." she said.

"I feel like arguing is futile." he said ruefully.

"Kinda." she agreed.

They squabbled over the tab for a few minutes, but ultimately, Danny won out. Kateri insisted on leaving the tip, however, sliding a twenty under her cup for how long they stayed there.

"Let me know if you're back in town. " Danny said once they were out of the diner. "Maybe if you and your guy can figure it out we can all go hang out sometime. I wouldn't mind a rematch on that laser tag."

"Definitely."

She turned against the light of his headlights, and began walking down the sidewalk, pulling out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts for a minute, before sliding her thumb over the screen and bringing it to her ear.

"Hey, I need a favor. How fast can I get an untraceable plane ticket?"

(*)

The airport. Kateri never found herself in a good mood when she was in one. Almost every single time, it was over something with Jessup, so airports did not generally mean anything good together. This time was no different.

She was sitting at the terminal, almost two hours early, and her leg hadn't stopped bouncing since she sat down. She was certain that she was going to tap a hole through the floor in a few more minutes.

In the past, she'd often have a few folders of information to pour through, locations, backgrounds on people she was going to encounter, security codes, and anything else she'd need.

Now, the only thing she had was her headphones in and a mind clouded with doubt and anxiety.

She honestly had no idea what to expect. Were they going to kill her? Torture her? Lock her away in a hole in the ground for the rest of her life? All that she knew for sure was that it wouldn't be anything pleasant.

She glanced down at her phone, her notification bar as empty as ever. She encrypted the signal not long after getting it, something Ema had taught her once before. It was a rather simple one, just pinging her location around the world, but was generally effective. She'd gotten a few calls and texts from Rex, but she refused to open them or listen to the voicemails. She didn't think she was strong enough.

She'd left her bow and any other weapons at her old house. There was no point in trying to bring them with her, so after pulling out the documents she'd need and her various false identities, she'd left them behind.

Now, she sat in a floral blouse and a thick scarf wrapped around her neck, trying not to scratch at the prosthetics on her face. She normally didn't like using them, because she wasn't very good at making them look realistic, but since they only went over her cheeks, it ended up looking alright if she wore sunglasses in bright light, and it was highly unlikely anyone would notice. She went ahead and left her hair down, because of the numerous security cameras, and she had a feeling that flights going to Sacramento would be tracked.

She reached up once again to her neck, but was only met with the hollow of her throat. That's right. She'd left the necklace behind.

It had become a symbol of trust between her a Rex, at least to her it had, and she felt like in betraying it, she didn't have the right to wear it anymore.

But she missed it. She missed the familiar weight against her collar, the warmth of the metal.

It belonged to someone trustworthy.

She pulled her legs into the chair, tucking her knees to her chest and resting her head on them.

A hour and forty five minutes left.

Outstanding.

(*)

It had been over an hour. Kateri had been watching the building she was supposed to be at since just before ten, but she had yet to see anyone arrive at it. Not that she expected to, it was expected that whomever was meeting her would arrive far before the rendezvous, but once again, old habits die hard.

She'd chosen the bookstore catty cornered to it, sitting on the second story of a building. She was offered a good view of the building, and a place she wouldn't get kicked out of for being a creep.

The location she was given was actually for a new office building that wasn't open yet. It was a small building, probably an insurance office or something. Something that looked harmless enough, but didn't risk civilians being around. She suspected Jessup owned it, but honestly? It felt a little half assed for how much Jessup, and she, had hyped it up. She was suspicious, to say the least.

Anxiety ate at her stomach, and before another ten minutes had passed, she finally decided that it was time to just bite the bullet. Watching the building wasn't getting her anywhere, and every second she stayed there she felt like more and more of a coward.

After stripping off all traces of someone else's face, she slipped out of the bookstore, tossing the clothes in a donation bin a block away. Pulling out her phone Kateri glanced at notification bar that still showed several unopened texts and voicemails. Popping off the back, she removed the battery and dropped it into a trashcan, tossing the phone itself into a gutter.

She took a deep breath after realizing her hands had a slight shake to them. Up until that moment, she'd managed to quell it pretty well, but the sheer force of her pent up terror winded her more than a punch to the gut, and she braced a hand against the wall for support, trying not to let her knees buckle beneath her.

Her eyes stung as if dirt had been kicked into them, and her breath came in short pants. She wasn't afraid. No. She was terrified.

She let her back hit the wall as she concentrated on steadying her breathing, tapping out a familiar rhythm on the wall to help her focus. Adziil, meaning strength. She would tap it out in Morse Code whenever her stress was running high, something her mother had taught her.

"Any word at all, but focus on it. Each letter, the rhythm it makes, until the focus is there." Words Chenoa had spoken to her very young daughter not long after starting school. For a couple years, she'd been teased for her accent, and her poor English, so her mother had shown her the little motion to help her keep calm.

She'd never put much stock in it until years later, where the motions would ground her better than she'd ever expected. It wasn't something she did often anymore, tending to forget about it in general, but it had yet to fail her when she needed it.

Running though the six letters one more time, she let her hand fall at her side and opened her eyes. The fear was still there, thrumming just under the surface, but it was contained.

"Now or never." she muttered under her breath. "Get it together, Blackfeather."

Dropping her face into a neutral mask, she stepped back out onto the sidewalk, striding forward with a step infinitely more confident than she felt. Marching up to the glass door, she reached up one hand to knock on the glass.

The door opened before she had a chance to touch it. She didn't recognize the person holding it, probably some bodyguard that existed for grunt work.

"Begay?" the bulky man questioned. She responded with only a curt nod. "This way."

Well you don't say her mind droned. She glanced around, waiting for the dramatic action scene from a cheap action movie to come in, guns to pop out of the walls, a cage to drop from the ceiling. Something.

But nothing came. The trip was short, as she was led to an office door visible from the lobby. She got the distinct impression she would not be spending long in the building.

"You're early." A voice purred, and a solid oh shit resounded in Kateri's mind.

"You've got to be kidding me." Kateri deadpanned as she glared into Elrich's cold brown eyes. The woman sat behind the desk, a couple of papers scattered in front of her. She stood upon Kateri's arrival.

"Not even a little bit, my dear. You've become quite the little thorn in my side. Such a shame, really, you really were an excellent soldier. One of the fastest learners we've seen and rather high ranking, especially for your age. Such wasted potential." the short blond woman intoned, as if she were critiquing a painting.

"I'm not sure why you seem surprised." Kateri retorted. "I've never done it willingly."

"I assure you, I'm not. I knew from the start you'd likely turn on us one day. Not quite so...drastically, but the point remains. The potential is there." She hummed, as thought talking about something as trivial as the weather.

"Then I supposed I should apologize for being such a disappointment, but I can't say it will be all that sincere." Kateri replied flatly.

"Oh, my dear, don't apologize." Elrich turned and walked back around the desk. "Please, have a seat. We clearly have a bit to discuss."

Kateri eyes the seat, looking for wires, needles, anything that could incapacitate her.

"Please child, it's just a chair. It doesn't bite." Elrich scolded, as though Kateri was nothing more than a dramatic kid. Ever so reluctantly, Kateri sat on the edge of the chair.

"Now, if I recall correctly, in addition to a handful of children crashing nearly all of our digital network and bringing a multi-billion dollar project to ruins, I believe you still made away with a fair amount of valuable information."

Kateri raised an eyebrow, but did not respond.

"Being difficult will gain you no favors." the Russian woman chided. "But to refresh your memory, shortly before your little excursion in the desert, three hard drives were stolen from the compound in Sedona. Ring any bells?"

"So what if it does? What use is it now?" Kateri questioned.

"The information is rather useless to us now, but to someone else, it could be quite useful."

Oh. Well this might be useful. "You're afraid I gave it to someone."

"I'm not afraid of anything about you, child." Elrich said pointedly. "But it's a liability to the company." When Kateri still did not respond, Elrich's eyes narrowed. "Silence will get you nowhere, girl. Just because you showed does not mean you, or the EVO boy, are out of hot water. Full cooperation is expected."

Kateri's spine tingled at her words. "I took them for my own use, nothing was given away or sold." she said stiffly.

"So then, where are they now?"

"I...don't know." Elrich gave her a sharp look. "I'm telling the truth. I'm not the one who carried them, so I don't know what happened to them."

"So you did give the information to someone else." Elrich cut in.

"I-yes, technically. The information was shared with the ones who helped me. But no one else." Kateri amended.

"Hm. So where are your associates now?"

"Again, I don't know. They disappeared during the explosion. Probably dead." The last words were said through gritted teeth.

"Interesting. So would you say it's safe to say the information is lost? There was a fair amount of research on there from a great deal more projects than just the one you terminated." Elrich fixed her with a calculated stare, and Kateri knew she'd have to chose her next words carefully.

"I had one of the computers used to search the drives. I was aware of the other information present, but due to time constraints, only information relevant to the Nanite Control project was explored, so I don't have knowledge of anything beyond that. As far as the drives themselves, I can say with certainty that the person who held them would not exploit them in any way." Ema wouldn't get in the middle of Jessup's affairs. She'd actually said as much to Kateri before, out of the sheer fact that it was far more trouble than any reward would be worth. "I can't give you a definite yes or no, but it is a safe as it could get."

"I will keep that in mind. So then, tell me, how are the captives doing? It was quite a dramatic escape, I must say." Elrich prompted.

Kateri was surprised by the swift topic change. "You don't exactly seem like the sympathetic type. Why do you care?"

"About their well being? I don't. I'm more interested in how quickly Providence was able to undo over three years of hard work." Came the careless reply.

"I don't see how it's relevant."

"You don't have to. What I want to know is how easily they could reverse it." she said.

Or how easily they could finish the job she realized. "To my knowledge, they haven't. Temporary fixes so their health doesn't deteriorate any further. A bodysuit full of cooling coils for the blind girl. Her name's Kira. But I suppose you wouldn't know that." Kateri replied with a distinct bite to her tone.

"On the contrary, I'm familiar with Ms. Caecus. I know all of them rather well. What of Alice Redgraves? Her condition was rather...extreme and the majority of her testing had to be cut short rather soon."

"As far as I know, her nanites were stabilized enough to stop killing her, but she's very weak and still essentially tethered to a hospital bed. Our contact was minimal at best." Perhaps that was a stretch, but Elrich didn't seem to question it.

"And those are the only two with conditions?" Kateri responded with a faint nod and a matching hard stare. "Very well."

"Done already?" Kateri asked, a mocking edge coloring her voice.

"Should there be more? Anything else you wish to share? Perhaps any advancements in your mission? Technically, you were never terminated from it." Elrich retorted.

"How considerate." Thinly veiled sarcasm dripped from her honeyed retort.

To her surprise, Elrich then smiled. "There it is."

"What?" Kateri hissed.

"That fire. You were always a feisty one. A good soldier, no doubt, but that spark of yours could light a match a mile away." Elrich chuckled. The irony of the statement was not lost on the Native American girl.

"Flattering words for someone who got burned."

"But of course. It's impressive you caused the ruckus, really, color me impressed. After all, the brightest sparks burn the longest." A chill ran down Kateri's spine as a smile twitched on Elrich's lips. "But in the end, they still fizzle out."

Kateri felt, rather than actually saw or hear, something behind her, and she spun on her heel, immediately falling into a defensive crouch, but it was too late. Her hand flew up to the pinching sting she felt on her neck, tearing free a tiny needle that couldn't have been bigger than a pin.

Her head instantly felt thick, and her breathing came out more labored. She turned back to Elrich, her movements noticeably more clumsy. "Coward."

The woman gave her a careless shrug. "Call it what you want, girl, it was effective nonetheless." She walked over to where Kateri stood, the girl clearly struggling to even stay upright. With one light push, Kateri was on her knees, trying not to collapse entirely. "Have a nice nap, child. It will be the only one you'll be getting for a very long time."

Kateri was unconscious before she hit the floor.

 **Longer note now, but you can skip it if you want to.**

 **So, like I said before, I do have 5 buffer chapters(which is stupid, since I don't post until the next one is done so there's no point in keeping them). I asked before what y'all wanted me to do with them, but since I didn't get much feedback on it, I'm just gonna post one every few days until I'm caught up.**

 **Also, the proofreading thing(***lol didn't proofread this chapter either yET***). Since I've written farther ahead than what's posted, the chapters you're seeing are old enough that I really don't even want to go through the writing at this point. Like I've said before, I've lost interest with this story(not necessarily the fandom, don't be shocked if I still turn up with some shorter things for it), and I can see the half-assed nature of the writing, and it frustrates me. But I've reached the point of "done is better than perfect". When I first started these, I poured my heart and soul into them, and I'm honestly proud of my characters and plot. But I've lost the motivation to write them like they were meant to be written.**

 **When I first started Arrow of Trust four-odd years ago, I walked into it like I did every fic at that time-no planning, just rolling with the punches as they came. Looking back, now that I've been doing this a while, I can see how choppy it truly is, and how many plot holes I left because of it.**

 **I've been writing now for about six years, and I've learned a lot. I started on an Artemis Fowl website, and boy howdy have I learned a lot. In time, I'll probably go back and edit the hell out of both of these stories and clean them up. Make them flow smoothly.**

 **But right now...I kinda hate the writing. Because now, I have sO many loose ends to tie up, and I'm scrambling to figure out how for a lot of them. There's a lot of things I honestly probably** ** _won't_** **, because I intend to remove them later(like Circe, for instance. I said before I was going to bring her back into the plot, but at this point, I don't think I have the willpower to bullshit a reason to do it). This story is exhausting to write at the best of times, because back when I had inspiration for this, I had, roughly, figured out the ending. But there's a lot going on in between I never bothered to hash out. That's a lot of why I lost motivation for it. I, stupidly, made my plot pretty complex, and lo and behold, maintaining that is hard. Another lesson I learned.**

 **But, I did also make a promise. I said I would finish it, and by god I'm gonna. Will it be the ending it deserves? Probably not. But I'm putting my all into making sure I give you all the best I possibly can despite all that. Later, when I'm up to the challenge, I'll clean it up, but you guys deserve an ending, because some of you have been here for a** ** _long_** **time.**

 **So yeah. It's ten 'til one in the morning right now, but I'm gonna start on chapter thirty four anyways, because I don't want to keep you waiting. I've done that enough. I don't work tomorrow, so if I pull an all-nighter rolling out another chapter, then hell yeah.**

 **Thanks so much for sticking with me guys.**


	29. Stuck In Reverse

**Man I suck at this updating thing...**

 **This chapter I actually did skim, and I'm glad I did, because I'd have missed a plot thing for later. I hate the writing marginally less now, since this one was done in about six months ago(and I don't have much time for writing, so I can't say I've written a lot in that time), so it did get a half-assed edit.**

 **Anyway, kinda slow chapter, a lot is kinda slow here...**

The air shimmered with the heat that radiated over everything. Rex had learned that the Southern states of America had the most ridiculously erratic weather. It was the beginning of February and already incredibly hot, but just a few days prior had been rather chilly.

"The motel you said you stayed at isn't listed anywhere, but there is a complex owned by a man named Mikail Kuznetsov." Holiday began. "I found quite a few...questionable things about him from his past, but he's been pretty well-behaved the past ten or so years after coming to America."

"If he's not causing trouble, then can we just leave him be?" Rex questioned after a moment. "If he's one of her allies, then I don't think he's going to cause trouble."

Holiday let out a rueful sigh. If she was honest with herself, she saw this coming. "He seems to be important to her if he's an ally. I'll be keeping tabs on him, but as long as he keeps on the down low like he has been, I'll leave Mikail alone."

"Thanks Doc."

They drove in silence, the white SUV rather unassuming with the thin layer of dust. Buildings and trees blurred together through the window.

 _This was where she grew up. I wonder how many of these places she's been to._

It was bizarre to think that this dusty little town also held...her entire childhood. Years of memories that, really, built who she was. Much of her personality on the exterior had been shaped by her time with Jessup. The cold, callous person, one who seemed wholly unapproachable, was a persona made by Jessup. But the one underneath, the one Rex had come know, her roots were here. The girl with a heart bigger than she could seem to hold, a warm smile, bright eyes that shone with intelligence and enigmatic laugh.

He left out a quiet sigh before hooking his headphones over his ears, hitting shuffle on a playlist he'd made, mostly remixes, songs in Spanish and ambient music, some of the only things he could listen to without being immediately reminded of the Navajo girl.

Rex allowed this mind to blur, letting the quiet thrumming of the music fill his head, hoping for even a few minutes of peace.

It worked well enough until the SUV pulled to a stop outside a familiar building.

"Is this it?" Holiday asked when he let his headphones slide back around his neck.

"Yeah, this is the place." came his reply before the both of them slid out of the vehicle.

Rex trailed behind Holiday as they walked to the office, the hinges quiet as she pushed open the door.

"Hello? Mr. Kuznetsov?" she called.

Rex's eyes widened and he immediately yanked Holiday back and put himself between here and the darkened doorway where they heard they sound of a shotgun being cocked, falling into a defensive crouch.

"I've kept my hands clean for a decade, federals have no business here." Came a gruff, accented voice as the barrel of the gun became visible, followed by the rest of Mikail's body as he slowly walked forward, but a flicked of recognition passed in his eyes when he saw Rex.

Rex then straightened, keeping his palms up. "We're not here to stir up trouble."

"You're one of the ones who was with Begay." Mikail took his finger off the trigger, but did not lower the gun. "Why did you bring a government agent here? I helped you."

"You did, that's why we're here." Holiday spoke, putting a hand on Rex's shoulder and stepping forward. Slowly, she reached down and unclipped her badge from her belt. "My name is Doctor Rebecca Holiday. I'm a researcher who works for Providence."

"Oh, you're just a scrub." he said, flipping the shotgun up and propping it against the wall.

Holiday raised a sharp eyebrow at the term, but didn't comment.

"I-We came here to ask your help." Rex spoke. "K...Kateri...she's missing."

Mikail raised an eyebrow, but didn't look altogether too surprised, shuffling to a worn leather chair and sinking into it. "I told her those people would never being her anything but trouble. She knew it too, but she's a stubborn girl. Convinced that if she did what they asked, they would just let them go. Foolish thoughts, but I helped her when I could. Too young for that world. She didn't deserve it."

Rex's mind was still trying to sort itself out, something as simple as saying her name, for the first time since she'd left, made a bit of a mess in his head, picking at wounds that had only started scabbing over, let alone healing.

Holiday saw his turmoil easily enough, and spoke up. "We were hoping if you could give us any information to help us find her."

"Maybe I could, but I don't know if that's what's best." Mikail's dark eyes remained on Rex, the way the Latino teen's body grew tense at the mere mention of the girl. He knew that look.

Rex felt his body heat up, sinking his teeth into his tongue and drawing forward a bitter coppery taste to remain silent.

"As opposed to letting her fall into their hands and get killed?" Holiday inquired, a subtle, but present, note of steel in her tone.

"Quite the opposite, actually. You're a smart woman, Doctor, I'm sure you know a bit of who I was." Holiday's silence was answer enough. "I'm more than familiar with how people like Jessup work. There are many just like them, some worse, and most operate right under our noses. I've known Kateri for a very long time, longer than most of her allies, and while I can't say we really keep in touch, I've learned quite a bit about her. I know she'd never go back to them once she was out unless it put the safety of someone she loved on the line. If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say it's this boy in front of me." His dark eyes flicked to Rex with a sharp perception. "I can give you all the information I have to offer, but the more you push, the more likely it is that you'll be signing her death certificate, and yours. Is that a risk you're willing to take?"

"Yes." Came Rex's quiet voice, with little hesitation. "I know that going after her would only make them more inclined to kill her. I have to live with it every second. But I can't condemn her to that, either, knowing I could have done something to stop it. Knowing that there was a chance, and I let it go. I've come to terms with the fact I'd rather die, or ever her die, from me trying, than her suffering at their hands for however long they toy with her before they just kill her anyways. Do I like it? No. But I'd rather die the hero that tried than live to become the villain that let it happen."

Mikail leaned back in the chair, meeting Rex's eyes with an analyzing stare. "What I see in front of me is a boy so lost he'll chase any scent he catches. The words I hear are of a man who has seen enough of the world to understand that sometimes, the most difficult path is the right one, and is strong enough to follow it. What are you willing to risk?"

"Everything."

(*)

Rex watched the little motel shrink in the side mirror, expression blank. Mikail had offered more insight than either of them had honestly expected, but it still hadn't left them with much.

" _She isn't one to run and cower, but if Kateri doesn't want to be found, she's good at covering her tracks, not to mention Jessup will likely keep her somewhere she doesn't even know. You'll have the most luck checking the most unlikely places, and I have a feeling you'll discover more by accident than searching. She has a very clever way of going about things, and often the answer is much closer than you'd think. Although she may not have planned doing anything herself, I do have a feeling there's still something up her sleeve."_

Rex wasn't sure about that. Who would she turn to? Her friends were still missing, and he doubted she would have hidden that from him if she'd found out otherwise. Despite everything, he still trusted her, and with everything happening as quickly as it had, he didn't think they would have anything to do with it.

That said, he was also aware that she had more allies out there besides Ema, Salem and Abe, ones he didn't know about and likely never would. People just like them, like Mikail, she had assets everywhere.

The information Mikail had given them did little to tell them where to look, but more on _how_ to look. More of how her mind worked in situations like this, something Rex, honestly, didn't have much experience with.

Small things would cross his mind to line up with his words, though. Like mailing their weapons to places as opposed to smuggling them in. Her walking right in the front doors of Jessup's building in Arizona instead of sneaking in. Taking the option that would seem the most obvious to anyone else, making it the most glossed over one as a result.

Rex pulled his gaze back to the windshield, watching the road in front of them instead. They were now going to one of the two coffee shops Holiday had found with a Daniel working at them. One of them had to be the Danny that she'd briefly mentioned, and whoever that was, was the last person who'd talked to the archer that either of them knew of.

"Rex." Holiday's voice cut through the tense air. "Promise me something."

He turned to her, tilting his head. "What's that, Doc?"

"If, and right now I am riding on a big if, this doesn't turn out like we're hoping it will...promise me you'll be okay. And I don't mean go back to being a ball of sunshine right after. If things take a turn for the worst, I don't know if you'll ever be the same again. You never _quite_ were after Circe, either. But promise me you won't let it drag you down with it for the rest of your life." The esteemed Doctor Rebecca Holiday was gone from her voice, only the Mama Hen Doc was present.

"...I can't do that." he replied softly. "I'm pitching everything on hoping for the best. I haven't really thought about what's gonna happen if it isn't. So that's not a promise I can really make. But I can promise to try."

"Honestly, right now, that's all I feel like I can really ask of you."

They lapsed back into silence, but this time it was a more comfortable one.

"Hey, Doc?" Rex spoke.

"Yes?"

"Thank you. For everything. And I don't just mean this. You've always been on my side, from the very start, you and Six both. I don't really say it enough, but I don't think I will ever be able to make up for how much it means to me. But thank you." A small, but sincere, smile was present on his face.

"Rex, it's nothing to feel indebted for. Everyone deserves a second chance."

"I guess I just feel like it's not fair to you guys. It's one mess after another with me, but you guys always take it in stride." he admitted.

"Everyone has their issues, Rex. It happens, but people like Six and I are there to support and help you when you need it. You are your own worst critic, just like everyone, but that doesn't make you a burden. Life is never supposed to be easy, or it isn't living, but people are put in your path to help you, just like you help them. As long as you look forward more than you look back, then it's going how it's supposed to. You won't always be able to see the end of the path, but as long as you know it's there and keep going, you'll make it there."

"Oh my god, we sound like a bad soap opera." Rex said after a long moment.

Holiday let out a soft chuckle at that. "Maybe so. Maybe if it was in Spanish it would be a better soap opera?"

"Hey, _El Amore de La Pasión El Amore_ is a work of art and I won't stand for anyone slandering its good name." Rex defended.

"I rest my case."

Rex opened his mouth to defend Reynaldo, but stopped when he realized they were pulling up to a small cafe. Rex groaned internally. Catching a break apparently wasn't a thing.

He let a hiss of air through his teeth, lips puffing out. "Jeez, let's just do this before the anxiety kicks back in."

He pulling open the door of the SUV, striding up to the front door and holding it open for Holiday, a soft chime sounding.

It was about midday, so it wasn't particularly busy, but there were still a handful of patrons lingering around given that it was a Saturday. Rex walked up to the counter where a girl with a dark auburn bob was talking to another girl with a purple undercut on one side.

"Um, hi." He awkwardly broke into the conversation. "I was wondering if someone named Danny worked here."

"Uh, yeah, he's in the back working on inventory." the girl with the bob answered, her name tag reading Morgan.

"One of the managers is out of town, so he's trying to help pick up some of the extra slack." The other girl, Sam, told him. "Why, you need to talk to him or something?"

"Yeah, I'm, uh, looking for someone he knows." Rex replied. The barista with the purple hair gave him an odd look.

"One sec." Sam disappeared through a door behind the counter.

"You looking to order anything?" Morgan turned her attention to him, pulling a pen and notepad out of her apron.

"Uh, just a plain coffee is fine." he said, figuring Holiday wouldn't mind a cup. She had chosen to hang back this time, letting Rex ask the questions. Rex passed a couple dollars over the counter.

"...yeah, the one in the red jacket." Rex heard Sam's voice as she and someone else stepped out of the door, a taller boy with light brown eyes and tawny hair that touched his eyebrows.

"Are you Danny?" Rex asked as the teen approached him.

"Yeah, you asked for me?" he replied, looking thoroughly confused.

"Um, I wanted to ask you about someone. Do you know her?" Rex help up his phone to show him a picture of Kateri, one he looked at just long enough to know it was a picture of her before looking away.

Recognition immediately flickered in Danny's eyes, and his gaze cut to Rex's. His eyes then flicked down to where the small arrowhead necklace rested, then realizing who he was.

"So you're the guy."

"Uh, I guess?" Rex slipped his phone back into his pocket. "How do you know her?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I have a feeling this is gonna be a long conversation, one sec." He turned and leaned over the counter a bit. "Hey Mo, can you let Nick know I'm going on break. There's something I have to take care of, I'll stay after to finish inventory."

"Yeah dude, no problem." she replied.

Danny walked over to an empty table and slid into one of the chairs, Rex taking the seat opposite to him.

"I met her a month or two ago, she just came in here and got the same thing and would stare out the window. It was pretty obvious something was up, but she wasn't really all that forthcoming about it, which is fine. I tried to just be nice to her, and while I don't think it actually did anything, I think she at least appreciated the effort. We went and played laser tag with a few of my friends, which was a little terrifying by the way, she's got to be a ninja or some shit. After that, we bounced a couple texts back and forth, but I didn't hear much from her. I'm assuming you know about that."

Rex nodded.

"Then, a few days ago, she showed back up, but something was...way off. Like someone trying to hold up the world on their own and trying to hide it. I don't want to get in the middle of her personal life, so I didn't try, I just asked her if she wanted to go to dinner and hang out for a bit to try and cool off a little, but I haven't heard from her since." Danny gave Rex a long look. "I have a feeling she's wrapped up in some really serious shit but doesn't want people to see it."

"I mean, you're not wrong." Rex replied.

"I dunno, I just think she's in really over her head."

"Did she say anything about where she was going, what she was doing, anything?" Rex pressed.

"No, not really, she said it was a business trip, but it was supposed to be the last thing she had to do for them?" Danny's eyes narrowed. "Is...she's not okay, is she."

It wasn't really a question, Danny was oddly perceptive, but Rex's head gave a slight shake. "She disappeared, I'm trying to find her before something bad happens."

"I figured there was a lot more to this than what she told me, but that's kinda scary man."

"You have _no_ idea. That's why I'm going after any leads I can find."

Danny's eyes were tight, and something told Rex that he was hiding something. Maybe this was what Mikail was talking about? Was Danny an asset?

"Please, if you know _anything_ , I have to find her." Rex hated the way he sounded almost desperate, but really, he was.

"I can't give you the answers you want, man. I wasn't given any, and I kinda think I'm not supposed to have them."

"But you still know something." Rex stated.

"Maybe I do, but it's not anything that's actually going to help you. If it's something you didn't know about in the first place, I'm not sure you were meant to. Maybe that's not my call to make, but it's what I was given. But, I don't actually have any answers for you. I'm sorry I couldn't help you more, and I hope to god Kate's alright, because I'm also pretty sure she's seen a lot of shit and had to go though a lot to get to the point she's at now, and I don't think she deserves it. But there's nothing for you here." Danny stood up. "I have to get back to work, but here's my number if you need it." He scribbled it out on one of the order sheets. "I know I'm not really in a position to be asking, but...can you at least let me know what happens? I don't want to get involved in whatever is going on, and I think she made sure I wouldn't, but I want to at least know if she's okay or not. You don't owe me a damn thing, and honestly, I don't know Kate that well, either, but she's a person as much as anyone else, so I do care."

Rex pocketed the paper, but didn't reply.

"Good luck."

Danny turned back to the counter, picking up the clipboard before vanishing into the back again.

"Luck…" Rex murmured, standing up and grabbing the cup of coffee sitting on the counter and passing off to Holiday, where the began to talk in hushed voices.

The barista, Morgan, glanced at Rex out for corner of her eye, before slipping into the back.

"Dude, what was that?"

Danny glanced over from one of the shelves of syrups. "Good question."

"Seriously, what's going on with all this?" she pushed.

"I don't know, I just know I'm not a part of it."

"You get two weirdos no one's ever seen before asking for you in the same day. Something's up." She crossed her arms.

"Yeah, it is, and I'd like to know what as much as you."

She glanced through the window where the Hispanic kid and the woman were exiting the coffee shop.

"They've gotta be in some messed up shit."

Danny snorted. "Yeah."

(*)

"I'm just a little irritated because he basically said he knew more than that, but wouldn't say anything." Rex huffed.

"But there was a reason for it. Mikail was right about her being good at covering her tracks. She must have known we'd end up here, and while he may know something else, I think she made sure he didn't know anything that would tell us where to look." Holiday said.

"Maybe." Rex hummed, but he still didn't like it.

His eyes flicked over the short buildings nestled into strips along the streets, shops old and new alike, the sidewalks sparsely littered with people walking along. Knit caps and loose sweaters, a flash of lilac hair wrapped in a bun and a Dachshund on a leash. Tiny insignificant details that came and went as fast as they passed by. Trees with yellowed leaves, and hundreds more swirling on the ground, a house or two with Christmas lights no one had bothered to take down.

He barely noticed the SUV coming to a stop once again, at a house that looked long abandoned.

He followed Holiday to the front door, which was predictably locked, but before she could pick it, Rex stopped her.

"Look." he said, pointing to a slip of paper taped to the inside of the glass, small enough it could easily go unnoticed to someone who wasn't looking for it. It had nothing more than an arrow pointing down and slightly off to the side. Following the direction of the arrow, he saw at the base of the doorframe there was a tiny, but deliberate, X cut into the wood. Again, to someone who wasn't looking, it seemed like nothing more than old scratched in the frame, but when Rex knelt down and tugged at it a bit, he found a key hidden behind it.

"I mean, technically it's not trespassing if we were given a key." Holiday commented.

"I think trespassing is definitely the least of our worries." Rex said, pushing the key into the lock, having to jiggle it a bit before it clicked. Twisting it a bit, he pushed it open.

The inside looked pretty much exactly what you'd expect an abandoned house to look like, save for the fact there wasn't much dust or grime anywhere, a faint spicy scent hanging stale in the air. But it had a distinctly vacant feeling to it.

There was no mistake that this was Kateri's former home, however. There were several pictures on the walls, many of them showing a young girl that couldn't be anyone else, as well as a man Rex recognized as Yiska and a woman who must have been her mother. Rex also didn't miss the fact that none of them showed her older than adolescence.

"This was her home." Stating the obvious, but the quiet was a bit too off putting not to break.

Rex and Holiday split off and began to search the rooms. Rex found what appeared to have been her parents bedroom, quickly abandoning it. He didn't feel right being in there.

"Rex." Holiday's voice rang out from another room, and he ambled down the hall to another room that must have been Kateri's. The walls were a muted shade of warm ochre, sharply contrasting the busy comforter on the bed of a coral reef. He saw her bow, quiver and backpack laying at the foot of the bed, and her laptop lying in the middle.

He and Holiday shared a glance before Rex stepped forward and opened the lid of the computer. One program was already open to a video, the thumbnail showing Kateri sitting against the wall on the bed.

"You good?" Holiday inquired softly.

"Not really." he replied, clicking play.

" _Rex. I've restarted this about five times because, really, what am I supposed to say? 'Sorry for disappearing and probably gonna die'? ...damn, probably shouldn't keep that...no, fuck it. If I don't do this now, I won't."_

In the video, she rubbed tiredly at her face, those green eyes staring into the camera.

" _I feel like I should be apologizing, but really, that's not enough. It's not like I can really apologize for this kind of thing, especially not over some stupid video. I'm not all that sure when you'll find this, because even though I asked you to stay away, I know you won't. That's the thing, we're both protective to a fault, and I'm afraid it's going to get the both of us killed. One thing I will apologize for, is that I'm sorry you're in this mess. My own poor judgment is the reason all of this is happening. I don't regret anything that's happened between us, but I do regret getting you involved like this. As much as it would hurt, if I was given a choice to do it again, I'd do it a lot differently. As much as it would kill me, I'd rather have never gotten this close in the first place, because all it did was hurt everyone. I'd rather have found another way than done this to you, because it isn't fair."_

Rex's eyes widened. She...She wished she hadn't met him? No, that's not quite what she meant, and he knew it. If she had a choice, she'd stay away to save him.

" _Again, I don't know when you'll find this, but if you haven't found Danny yet, don't waste the time. He doesn't know anything, I wouldn't tell him. I won't get yet another innocent person wrapped up in this."_

There was a beat of silence as she chewed her lip.

" _Rex, you might want to watch the next part alone. You don't have to, but it's meant for you. God, I should have made noteca-"_

Holiday reached over and paused the video.

"I'll step out for a moment. If you really want to, you can show me later." she said, squeezing his shoulder.

"Thanks Doc."

She nodded, stepping away and closing the door behind her.

" _-ards...well shit, here goes nothing. What I said before was true. If I could chose, knowing what I know now, I'd chose not to let our paths cross, because nothing about this is fair to you. I don't regret anything about us, but I regret getting you thrown into this mess. This was always meant to be my fight, but I made it yours too, and that's something I'll never be able to forgive myself for. I wouldn't wish this on anyone, and after everything, certainly not you. But the fact is, I can't change it. So the only thing I can do now is try and salvage what there is now. I didn't mean to fall in love with you, Rex. Everything would have been so much easier if I hadn't. But I don't regret that, either. Loving you was the best thing I've ever done, and I think it's changed me, for the better, for the rest of my life. I'm sorry I did this to you, and have no choice but to let you die or keep doing it now. I already know the answer, but Rex,_ please _don't come after me. If there's one thing I can ask, I want you to try to let go. I want you to live your life how you should, how you deserve to, because you shouldn't be dragged down with me."_

It took Rex a moment to realize he couldn't really see the video anymore, it was so blurry. He rubbed at his eyes with his sleeve roughly, trying to dislodge the warm salt water.

" _I guess this is it. I feel like there should be more to say, but there's no more words. Ayoo anoshi, Rex."_

The feed cut off.

Rex nudged the lid of the laptop down, letting it softly click shut.

He found Holiday in the living room, gazing at the pictures littering the walls with thoughtful eyes.

"You know, she seemed very happy." she quietly noted, not mentioning his red rimmed eyes and her belongings tucked under his arms, backpack slung over his shoulder.

Rex just hummed in response, scanning over the photos himself. He'd never seen Kateri's mother before. Her name was Chenoa, if he recalled correctly, a woman with the same long dark hair as Kateri, but her skin was fair and her eyes a deep brown. He saw the same crinkle on her nose where she laughed, same warm smile that Kateri had. They both had the same softness of their features, but the archer's eyes were as fierce as her father's. She had his same strong set jaw, and catty smirk when they knew they had the upper hand.

"You can watch the last part if you want." Rex finally said. "It's not really helpful as far as finding her, though."

Holiday regarded him with a sad smile. "I think I'll be alright."

They didn't linger much longer, the air suffocatingly thick both with memories and questions.

Questions without answers.

 **So like I said, kinda slow, but give it about...four chapters, I think? And it starts to pick up. Originally, things were going to be a bit more drawn out than it's turning out, but that's probably for the best, because I don't want it to feel too filler-y(god knows the first one was), but I'm trying to wrap everything up as quickly and as smoothly as possible. I have a lot of groundwork laid at the point I'm at now, it's just a matter of putting it in motion.**

 **Also, shoutout to Geekno72, for staying on my ass to update. Yeah, I'm pretty bad at checking Discord, but I also gotta say, it's a lot harder to let this slip to the backburner now.**

 **Please leave me a review and tell me what you think!**


	30. Snitches Get Stitches

**Back again! We're only about four chapters behind where I currently am now, and this chapter was finished in May, so it isn't obscenely old, either. This is also about where I started cutting things up from my outline to speed it up, so things should be moving a bit faster from here on out.**

 **Enjoy!**

 _Clang._

Kateri whirled at the sharp sound of metal hitting metal, but couldn't see anything through the inky shadows that permeated everything. Her fingers twitched against her bowstring, pulled taut as she kept an arrow at ready, the edge glinting softly in the minimal light. She walked forward slowly, but didn't cross the edge of the shadows, listening carefully.

Eyes widening, she spun to the left when another soft noise was made, but there was only more darkness.

" _Amazing, hm?"_

Her eyes darted around looking for the source of the deep voice, but there was nothing.

" _Quite a fascinating specimen. Her nanites are developing nicely, I do believe that she'll evolve well."_

"Where are you, you bastards?!" she shouted, her anger flaring as she heard Elrich's voice next. She slid the arrow forward and held it with her left hand, yanking a different one free from her quiver and shooting it straight up. After a moment, a blinding red flash was set off at the flare on the arrow's tip detonated, the cinders falling into more darkness before fizzling out. Once they died down, Kateri found that what little light was there before was now gone, and she stood in pitch darkness.

She nocked the first arrow again, and pulled it back, closing her eyes despite the dark and relying on her hearing alone.

But there was nothing.

" _What do you think you'll do with that little toy, dear?"_

The floor dropped away and she hit cold tile with a painful thud, her bow and quiver vanishing. She scrambled to her feet, pulling a switchblade from her boot and flicking it open with a soft _shhick_. She spun in a slow circle, seeing the room she was now in was nothing but mirrors, reflecting back someone she barely recognized. Her long hair was a mess of mats and tangles, strewn all over her face and shoulders. Her clothes were torn and dirty and any visible skin was covered in grime and scratched.

She looked like a wild animal.

" _Tsk, tsk, what a dirty girl. You look like you've been rolling around in the garbage."_ Another voice echoed around, this one vaguely familiar with a subtle German accent.

" _Or Providence, semantics, really."_ Came Elrich's voice again.

"Where are you?!" Kateri shouted, eyes flicking back and forth, but the only thing she could see was her battered reflection.

" _Ignorant child, we are_ everywhere _. Your silly little attempts to run and hide were so futile, I don't know how you didn't realize it sooner."_

Something struck the back of Kateri's hand and the switchblade flew out, skidding across the floor before smacking into one of the mirrors, creating a long fissure running up the center. Turning sharply, she found no one there, nothing that hit her.

"Stop playing your little _games!_ " she shrieked, her hands curling into fists. "You got me, whoo hoo, I'm right here. What, the _fuck_ , do you want from me?!"

A chorus of quiet laughter, now. " _Stupid girl, you've been nothing but a slew of problems. What is it you Americans say? 'Snitches get stitches'? You've done an awful lot of snitching,_ mach'mad _."_

Kateri turned back to the broken mirror when she heard a soft _chink_ , watching as more cracks spread, racing across the glass until every mirror was covered in thin lines.

" _Now, it's time to get your stitches."_

A sharp scream spilled from her lips as the glass burst inward, flying toward her…

The cry tore roughly from her throat as her body jolted, eyes flying open. The then bit back a groan as her wrists stung and her shoulders ached. The lighting was still minimal, but it was enough to see her immediate surroundings.

She was in the center of a small cement room, a big steel grate just a bit to the side covering a drain. Her hands were shackled above her head in thick cuffs, and after a bit of fiddling, she realized they were snug enough that even if she broke her thumbs, her hands would not slide through them. The ache in her shoulders came from the fact that her toes only barely brushed the floor, not enough to relieve the pressure and not enough to get any leverage to fight back.

A chill ran down her spine as she recalled the last time she was in this exact position. She had been fourteen at the time, her first active mission, one on a gang…

Her throat also burned from the scream, feeling just as dry and chapped as her lips. Thirst itched at her, and she wondered how long she'd been hanging there. She could already feel the chafing on her wrists, but it hadn't broken skin yet, so she didn't think it had been more than a few hours, but there was no way to know for sure.

Although she knew it wouldn't help much, she tried curling her toes down to the floor, attempting to hold her body up. For a split second, she managed to take the growing pressure off, but she just didn't have the balance to hold the position, wincing as her weight tipped and yanked on her shoulders once again.

 _It's an absolute miracle I can still shoot a bow, my shoulders have been put through so much shit._

Despite, well, _everything_ about her situation, boredom quickly began to take over her mind. She was actively avoiding counting, because since she already did not know what time it was, it threw off her circadian cycle, so counting or doing anything to try and maintain a sense of time could, quite literally, drive her insane.

Instead, she just began tunelessly humming and tapping her finger against her palm in the familiar Morse Code pattern, using the two tasks to keep her mind busy.

To anyone looking in, she would seem almost overly calm, but in reality, it was the girl's mind shutting down. Her old training was kicking in full force where everything except survival instincts were hefted to the back of her mind and locked away.

She didn't really expect to be left here to rot, however, and eventually, the door clicked and swung open on quiet hinges, revealing a tall, darkly tanned woman with thin brunette dreads swept back into a ponytail. She held a black case in one hand, leaving the door open behind her as she walked forward.

Kateri didn't speak, the woman stopping a couple feet in front of her.

"So this is the infamous Agent Begay?" Her voice was rather deep, but free of a foreign accent. "I honestly expected a bit more...well, _more_. You're just a kid."

She didn't wait for a response and Kateri didn't give one, instead leaning down and unlatching the case. From it, she pulled out a pair of latex gloves that she quickly pulled on, then withdrawing an empty syringe.

"Hold still." the woman commanded, wrapping a firm grip around her jaw and pushing her head up. While Kateri didn't resist, she also didn't exactly just bend her head back. The Navajo girl did not react when the thick needle slid into the side of her neck, bringing a small burn. It didn't last long, though, the syringe pulled away, now filled with the dark merlot of her blood. The woman's dark eyes cut to Kateri's face. "Not that you asked, but it's a sample to see how your nanites are developing. They were altered, correct?" She did not wait for a response. "They should have settled by now, but a few scans need to be done before any further modifications can be made."

She tried not to react, but Kateri couldn't hide the way her pupils shrunk to pinpoints.

"You didn't honestly expect that to be the end, did you?" She chuckled. "Since you so kindly made sure we had to start from scratch, it only seems fitting that you become the first subject for its renewal."

Every metallic click of a latch felt like another nail in the coffin as the woman packed away her things. She paused and turned after the door to her cell swung back open.

"I'll be back for a full exam. I need to see the overall condition of your body before we begin anything...extreme. Also, Ms. Begay, my name is Doctor Neita Clarke. Since we will be getting...acquainted, it is only fair you know my name as well. Do me a favor and try to take care of my specimen."

Kateri only glared as the door swung shut behind her.

(*)

It had gotten to the point that the silence was almost painful. The burn in her shoulders had gotten quite a bit more intense, but not enough to be much more than a nuisance in the back of her mind. At this point, though, they could probably be dislocated entirely and sooner or later it would get pushed to the back of her mind. After so many years, pain had just become something else to compartmentalize and bottle away, albeit with maybe a tad more difficulty.

But right now, the silence hurt more than anything.

Her head pounded and she could almost _feel_ her own pulse from every direction. Honestly, this alone was likely better torture than almost anything else they could dish up.

Standing up on her toes again, she decided to bite the bullet and attempt to jump. Her breath hitched as she missed her goal, but before the pain from the cuffs had a chance to really get to her, she did it again, this time gaining _just_ enough purchase to hop up and grab onto the chain, making them go slack around her wrists. It did nothing for her shoulders, but she could feel where the chafing had rubbed through enough of her skin for blood and a clear fluid to seep out, and the crust it formed only made the chafing worse. Though it honestly hurt her shoulders more, it helped with her wrists.

Feeling the grainy buildup under the metal only added to her growing feeling of squalor. She had no idea how long she'd been here, but the sweat had left her skin feeling itchy and her hair felt greasy, a few stringy locks from her bangs hanging in front of her. Aside from the hunger pains and the dry burn in her throat, her desire for a goddamn shower was much higher on her list of priorities than anything.

Huh. It felt like it had been at least a day since she'd eaten. The thirst was worse, and she knew she could go far longer without food than water, but since her food intake hadn't been great before she left, she had a feeling that if they didn't feed her it would be a more significant issue later.

' _Do me a favor and try to take care of my specimen.'_

Or not. Surely they wouldn't have their 'test subject' wither away.

Either way, it didn't really matter anymore. Just like the voice in her dream had said, it was time to get her stitches.

(*)

The next time the door opened, the figure before her was one of a hulking man, his skin pale in the cold light, curly black hair pulled out of his face. This one struck her as familiar, but she wasn't quite sure why. She was surprised to see an almost...fond look.

"Kateri...quite a mess you're in." he spoke.

"...who the hell are you?" Her voice was gravelly from both lack of use and lack of water.

"I supposed you don't remember me, we only met once. I was your medic once, I'm a physician. My name is Niklous Petrov." he replied.

"Wait, I do remember you. You're the one who worked on my back." she realized. He'd been one of the specialists who tended to her after she'd been found at the warehouse when she was fourteen, brought in for assistance since most of the nerves were shredded. She'd only briefly met him.

"Yes."

"So what, you help heal me, now you'll help hurt me?" she spat.

"Hurt you? No, I'm here to help you...in a way. Don't worry, you're safe with me." He moved to a touchscreen panel near the wall, and Kateri heard a grinding above her, the chains vibrating for a second before moving down. The jolt from her weight no longer being held on her shoulder was such a shock that her legs gave out, bringing forth another yank before they caught up and her limp form was left kneeling on the floor, her breath soft and ragged.

"Here." She looked up to see a simple plastic water bottle held in front of her. "I'm sure your thirst has more than caught up to you by now. It's been two days, I believe, I'm honestly rather surprised you aren't a blathering idiot right about now."

"I'm not exactly a stranger to things like this." she told him, raising her still cuffed hands to the bottle and taking it. She listened carefully for the soft crack, only lifting it to her lips when she heard the sound of the bottle's seal being broken for the first time. Her first sip was cautious, but it tasted clean and she figured it didn't really matter if it was spiked anyways. If they wanted to drug her, it would happen regardless.

The cool water almost burned the back of her dry throat at first, but a second later, it soothed it. It was hardly more than room temperature, but against the raw flesh it felt chilled. She tried not to chug it so she wouldn't just throw it back up, but it still wasn't long before the bottle was empty.

"Um, thanks." she said, screwing the cap back on the bottle and handing it back.

"Of course." He pushed the bottle into the backpack slung over his shoulder, before withdrawing a small package of crackers. "I apologize that these may seem a little bland, but it's less likely your body will reject them."

She just shrugged. "I'm kinda surprised I'm being given food at all."

"Perhaps, but you'll need your strength." he replied, handing them over.

Oh, right. She was a lab rat now. Gotta keep her at least a little healthy. "Obviously. Can't experiment on me if I'm gonna die, right?"

Petrov frowned. "Kateri, listen to me. You are more than just some experiment. Don't forget who you are."

She raised a curious eyebrow at the words, but didn't respond.

"I'll check back with you periodically." He then stood, and Kateri silently watched as he left the room.

Her eyes fell down to the, still unopened, pack of crackers.

What an odd man. He spoke to her as if she were a person instead of a project, and after a moment, it registered that he'd left her kneeling on the floor instead of cranking the chains back up so she was hanging. There still wasn't a significant amount of slack on them, her hands didn't even rest in her lap, but she pressure on her shoulders was gone and they rested low enough for her to let them hang in front of her with little to no pain.

She tugged open the thin plastic, biting into one of the unsalted water crackers. The taste was just as he'd said-bland, but even the feeling of something edible in her mouth had Kateri's stomach in knots. Ugh, when was the last time she'd even eaten something and kept it down?

Still, she forced herself to swallow it, picking away at each cracker until they were all gone. Despite the fact there couldn't have been more than a dozen of them, the food felt heavy in her stomach, and she dearly hoped that it didn't come back up.

Ever since coming out of the coma some four months back, she'd noticed she'd lost a fair amount of muscle mass, both from her lack of proper diet and overall less frequent use of them. Her regular training had still kept her in good shape, but the month spent at Abuela's only aided to it. It wasn't anything incredibly drastic, but it was enough for her to notice the small differences, like the distance lost on her shooting, her overall endurance when running, and even the slight visible loss of definition in some places. She wished now more than ever that she was more strict with herself, hating the fact that she allowed herself to grow complacent and break routine. It could have been worse, yes, she was still more than able to defend herself, but it would have been better if she was stronger.

Her eyes then widened. "Oh _shit-_ "

The words were cut off when her throat burned and her stomach heaved, Kateri throwing her body to the side. She managed not to vomit on herself, somehow, but almost everything she'd just consumed came back up. She spat a few times trying to rid her mouth of the soured taste of bile.

Well. This was going to be a problem.

She thought she was almost over her flu, but apparently that wasn't the case.

Before she could process anything else, she flinched as a bright white light flooded the room, effectively blinding her for a few moments. She heard the door click and several people walked in, led by Neita Clarke.

The people who followed her in just looked like med techs, bringing in various types of equipment. One of them rolled forward what looked similar to a gurney, but most of it was an oddly dull stainless steel with every form of restraint possible latched onto it. It took her a moment to realized the metal seemed to be coated with something.

"Well well, feeling a bit sick?" Clarke asked, eyeing the vomit on the floor with a note of disgust. "How unfortunate." She glanced at her hunched form from where she knelt of the ground. Kateri didn't even bother trying to stand. It wasn't as if she could go anywhere, and she should conserve strength where she could. "Bring her up."

One of the techs tapped at the panel by the door, and the chains began to shudder, Kateri glaring at Clarke as she was pulled back up, fighting off a tremor as the ache in her shoulder came back with full biting force, and then some as the soreness was agitated.

Clarke took a metal ring of some sort off a tray, walking forward with it.

"Now, while full cooperation is expected, you're a fool if you think we'll just unchain you and let you run about. You've proved yourself rather slippery." She reached up and latched it around her throat, the weight settling against Kateri's skin and making her want to choke. It wasn't tight enough to hinder her breathing, but still snug enough to be uncomfortable. A second later, she felt yet another flare of pain along several points on her neck.

"You should've felt the needles just now, ceramic so you don't damage yourself. Don't try anything funny. It can either knock you out or kill you. You'd be dead before you hit the ground. Care to try anything?"

Kateri didn't reply.

A second later, her back arched as an electric pulse lit up her nerves.

"Oh yes, and that."

Great. Reduced to being forced into a shock collar like a disobedient dog. Fan-fucking- _tastic._

Clarke grabbed her chin. "There's a difference between not resisting and cooperating, Miss Begay. I suggest you learn it, and quickly."

Kateri resisted the urge to spit in her face.

"Now, I'm going to lower the bonds. Be a good girl and have a seat on the bed." Clarke stepped back, nodding at the tech by the controls, and the automated pulley began to click again.

This time, Kateri braced herself, somehow keeping herself upright as she stood on solid ground. Her legs visibly shook with the effort, but she _refused_ to fall and make an even bigger fool of herself. The chain loosening was nearly enough to make her fall, being heavier than she'd expected, but slowly, she was able to walk to the metal bed. It was slightly taller than her hips, so she was forced to awkwardly twist her body on her hands to actually get onto it, her arms shakier than her legs when attempting to hold her weight. There was an odd softness to the surface of the metal, though it didn't make it any less firm.

"Good. Lean back." Clarke commanded, Kateri's face a blank mask as she obeyed without comment.

As soon as the back of her head hit the unforgiving metal, two of the techs pinned her legs down before strapping them in place. Again, Kateri made no attempt to struggle. Even if her body wasn't miserably weak, she wouldn't have gotten far. As soon as the bonds were secured up to her ribcage, she saw a small light flash on the cuffs around her wrists before they dropped heavily onto her chest, winding her. After a moment, she almost felt as opposed to heard a soft hum, and realized she could no longer lift her head back up, the collar digging into her windpipe when she tried.

"Electromagnet. It's not coming off the table until I turn it off." Clarke told her, leaning forward, her head blocking out the bright lights. "Don't worry, everything is coated with a silicone based polymer, your nanites won't be interfering with this equipment."

Her words confused the girl. How would they know about that? She remembered the sample Clarke had taken before of her nanites, but how could they have had this prepared already? She idly wondered how many people had been put through this for them to already have such insight.

Too many.

She wondered if they were completely aware of her nanites' development. If they were really in a constant state of changing, how many steps ahead could they be? Figuring it couldn't possibly make the situation worse, Kateri focused on her own nanites, trying to feel the current beneath her skin.

She was almost surprised when she could, the thrum of electricity only barely making itself known before she tamped it back out again.

"...and get this mess cleaned up." Clarke's voice broke through her thoughts from where she was speaking with one of the techs. She was holding a plastic bag of some sort of yellowed looking fluid.

"Evidently, feeding you won't get us far, so you'll be hooked up to fluids for a few hours before your physical." Clarke informed her, a thin pole with a hook on the end sliding upright from the side of the cot. She pulled a needle attached to a tube from the tray that had been sitting a few feet away, far enough away Kateri wouldn't have been able to reach it if she'd tried to run. It disappeared under her skin in one swift motion, and a few seconds later Kateri could feel the coldness in her arm where the contents of the bag began to drain into her body.

"Take her to an isolation room. I need her body in the best condition possible before the modifications begin."

 _Modifications._ The word echoed in her mind as she felt the subtle vibrations beneath her where the cot began to roll.

After less than a minute, though, the girl noticed the lights that hung overhead got blurrier and blurrier with each that passed, and she realized that even though she was bound, she could no longer move. Sounds around her began to grow distant, and she strained to hear the techs talking.

" _...sedative should be kicking in."_

" _Good, we're carting her to the other side of this place, there's no telling what she'd see."_

" _I mean, she can see now, but she won't remember any of it."_ She vaguely registered a hand waving in front of her face. Their next few sentences were spoken too quickly for her to follow.

" _She'll be lucid for the next twelve hours."_

The rest of the conversation became lost to her, the next time she was jolted to awareness when the cot stopped moving and she felt the bindings being unlatched. She felt her arms and ankles being grabbed, her body aching from being chained, and her unresponsive body was dumped gracelessly onto the small bed.

Then, she was alone.

Her mind swam in murky water, forming half sentences and out-of-focus images with no semblance of coherency, fading after a few seconds. Darkness bubbled at the edge of her vision and she did her best to fight it off in the state she was in.

But, inevitably, her world faded to black.

 **So, I found the old playlist I'd made for this story, and ended up blowing on my dying spark for this story a** ** _little_** **. Mostly just made me want to draw them again, but I got a few ideas out of it, and my writing for it hasn't been qUITE as stagnant, so that's a plus.**

 **Hope y'all liked it! Please drop a review and tell me what you think!**


	31. Roads Untraveled

**New chapter, lookie here! I've been getting better about working on writing this, too, I can usually turn out about half a chapter a week? A couple thousand words in a sitting a couple times a week. I'm trying. I'm fINALLY getting back into the meat of it, so I'm having a little more fun writing it again.**

 **Also, I apologize, most of this chapter is boring as hell, but I swear there aren't any more this bad(most bc it was boring to write, so I'm not gonna do it again). But I put it in to give you an idea of how they work, and who's doing what. Let me know if I need to do up a quick info sheet for you guys to keep characters straight, bc I know there's a lot of them at this point and it can be hard to keep up with.**

It was a long trip back. Rex had removed the tiny slip of paper from the window and taken the key with him, the abandoned house somehow feeling even more empty upon them leaving than when they'd arrived. By the time they'd pulled away, dusk had long since settled, a few streaks of crimson staining the dark sky, and within the hour night had fallen.

Rex couldn't sleep at all, but Holiday could feel the sting in her eyes and had pulled over for a few hours, ignoring Rex's offers to drive. By the time they made it back to Providence, the sun was beginning to rise.

They arrived to an entourage.

"Rex, look." Holiday's voice broke through his muddled thoughts where he had gotten the closest to sleep in the entire trip.

The Latino lifted his head to see eleven faces lined up, with varying degrees of familiarity. At the front were Willow, Charlie and Jordan. Then, a bit further, he saw the others. Aarin, the man with navy hair and blonde streaks, now all dirty blond and cut short, standing beside Timothy. Kathrine, or rather Rev, the purple streak still in her bangs next to Dianne, Damorian and Jared. Names he could only barely remember, but hard to forget all the same.

Every person they'd rescued who'd remained at Providence.

"...what are they doing?" he murmured. Even Alice and Kira were there, the blind girl keeping a hand on Alice's shoulder in her bodysuit.

"I'm not sure." Holiday replied, unclipping her seatbelt and stepping out of the van.

It was Charlie who walked forward, though Willow and Jordan trailed behind her.

"What are you all doing here?" Holiday asked.

"Kateri's missing." began the redhead, never one to dodge around the issue.

"We're here to help you." Willow followed right away.

Holiday raised an eyebrow, opening her mouth to refuse, but Jordan spoke up first.

"We're not asking permission. She saved all of our lives. She's gone because of it. Every single person here owes her. We're going after her." Her voice held none of the usual aggression, but every bit of the stubborn defiance it always had.

Holiday looked around at the near dozen people in front of her, and didn't see a hint of doubt on any of thier faces.

"Don't worry about Marshmallow." Spoke up a woman with a choppy ash blond pixie cut. Dianne. "We talked to Captain Calan. We have his full support, he said he'd handle White."

Damorian spoke next. "White doesn't technically control us yet, none of us have graduated, so Captain Calan is our commanding officer."

"I think he knows we'd go anyways." Aarin added.

"We owe Kateri our lives. So it's our turn to repay the favor." Alice's voice sounded small in comparison to the cadet's, but was just as determined.

"You are all aware that this is grounds to get booted from the Training Program, correct?" Holiday asked, sending pointed looks to Willow, Jordan and Jared in particular, ones who already had a promising future within the ranks and they hadn't even graduated yet.

"It's occurred to us." Jordan answered. "Any objections?"

Silence.

"We all went through hell down there." Diane said, her scarred jaw firmly set. "That girl? She could have died getting us out. From what I hear, she almost did. A few of her friends did. If anyone here doesn't have the balls to at least offer the same in return, they are a hypocrite, and a coward."

No one disagreed, and a few began to speak up their own points.

Holiday put her hands up to silence them after a second, she'd heard enough. "It seems you all have made up your minds already, regardless of what I have to say." Her eyes cut to Alice and Kira. "Even those of you who have no place on a battlefield."

"But-"

"However," Holiday cut off Alice. "I also believe I am past the point of telling any of you what to do."

"She wouldn't want this." Rex spoke, his voice quiet and eyes on the floor, but the second his mouth opened, everyone fell silent. "This is the opposite of what she wanted, from anyone. She doesn't want anyone else getting hurt because of her. I was told as much more than once." He then looked up, and for the first time since they'd left for Abuela's, Holiday saw hope in his eyes. "But I was there when we got all of you out. She couldn't do that alone. She can't do this alone, either. When we went into that lab, there were five of us. Only two made it out. If anyone isn't willing to work with those odds, you might as well leave now."

No one moved.

"Then I believe a briefing is in order." said Holiday.

(*)

Honestly, Alice wasn't all that surprised when she and Kira both were pulled aside by Holiday.

"You understand the two of you are in no shape whatsoever to be leaving the medical ward, let alone going on a rescue mission, correct?" the doctor began.

"Of course we do." Kira said. "Just like five teenagers were in no shape to be rescuing sixteen people from a locked down, underground laboratory, but that didn't stop them, either. Just because we can't fight on the front lines doesn't mean we can't be useful. Two more sets of hands won't hurt, and neither will two more people looking on from a different perspective. Or hearing on, in my case."

"There has to be a way we can help." Alice's gray eyes were hard.

Holiday glanced between the two girls. Every part of her wanted to turn them down. Alice was only seventeen, and Kira sixteen. Alice, though her condition was drastically improved from when she'd first been admitted to the medical wing, was still delicate. Kira's was stable, with the bodysuit and her four remaining senses were incredibly sharp, but Holiday couldn't look past the obvious fact that the girl was blind.

"I won't give either of you a definite answer right now. Both of you are still under monitoring because of your health, and I will not take you if there's even a chance that leaving here could cause either of your health to decline. I understand that you want to help, but neither of you will be doing anyone any favors if you have to be taken care of on top of everything else."

"Fair enough." said Alice. "But it isn't a no."

"Not _yet_. Now come on, we need to go over what we have so far." Holiday opened the door to where Rex was running through the basics of what they already had, a couple holo screens hovering over the tabletop. Upon Holiday entering, he stepped back, allowing her to take over.

"Alright, let's start at the beginning. We're going to need everything any of you know."

They began to move down the line. Some had very little information to offer, only snippets gotten from when they were first taken, most of them being profiling for why specifically they were taken. The ones who hadn't made it as far as experimentation, the group that Ema, Salem and Abe had rescued, quickly went over the details of how they were taken.

However, the five from the group that Kateri and Rex had gotten, had a bit more to offer as far as how the inside of the facility worked.

"It wasn't that hard to take me." Aarin had begun. "I was actually homeless at the time, I couldn't hold a job. I was a drug addict, so the two years before then are pretty blurry. All they had to do was tell me it was free if I got in the van.

"I basically let them shoot me up, thinking it was what I was after, but I woke up in some kind of containment cell half out of my mind with withdrawal and pain, like my skin was burning. I guess that's when they did the nanite thing and put that shit in my neck. After that, I was left alone for a while, hooked up to some fluid. I'm pretty sure they were trying to flush my body of the drugs. They did all kinds of physical examinations, and after that, they would go days without feeding me hardly anything, just enough to keep me alive. I was constantly hungry and dehydrated, and combining that with the withdrawal symptoms, it almost drove me insane, and eventually I broke.

"After that, they put me under for a while, hooking me up to intravenous fluids to get my body back in some kind of shape and started giving me regular meals, but it was made clear that the second I became remotely uncooperative, I'd be right back where I was. I also noticed that there was no regular guard. I didn't see very many people at once at any given time."

Holiday made note of that, his words lining up with Rex and Kateri's recounts, where they often didn't even have to move with much stealth since there didn't tend to be many people milling about despite the size of the facility.

"They put me in some glass cylinder thing and the disk on my neck started tingling. I don't remember what happened after that, but I'm guessing that's when they changed me the first time. After that, they started sending me to the arena. I can remember those, for some reason. It wasn't quite like being a puppet, but I still didn't have full control. It was like, someone told me I had to fight, but not _how_ to fight."

He explained a bit further as to how the control seemed to work, but didn't have much else to offer. Damorian's story was much the same, having been a very large, solid EVO when turned and a strong fighter.

Alice's was a bit different.

"They sent me to the arena a couple times, but my transformation was pretty small, not much bigger than I am now, but I had a camouflage ability, kinda like a chameleon. I started getting put into something kinda like an obstacle course, going after certain targets or collecting items. I also can fully recall everything, including the first time I was turned, which was hands down the most horrifying thing I ever experienced.

"It was weird, though, I could tell when they were trying to control me, but I was able to fight it, to a degree. Like being tied up with a dull pocket knife in your hand. I'd work at it, but when I almost had control, they'd lock me up again. Eventually, I just quit fighting it."

"But you could, in theory, break the control?" Holiday questioned.

"I think so, but they never gave me the chance." she replied.

"I never could do that. I was aware of the control, but I couldn't do anything against it." Damorian said, his brows furrowing the dark skin between his eyes.

"Same for me." Aarin added.

"I could." Kira began. "In the beginning, I didn't realize it. They took me to all sorts of places before I was ever turned."

"Do you remember any specifics of where?" Holiday asked.

"No, but I do remember an earthquake once. It was really subtle, but my touch and hearing are really sharp, so I could feel the shaking. I don't think I was underground then."

"Wait, that makes sense." Willow cut in, and everyone immediately fell silent. She had more outside information than anyone, from loose lipped guards in the medical wing she spent so much time in. "I remember hearing someone talk about some car museum in Sacramento. A lot of it was just rambling about old muscle cars, Mustangs maybe, but one of them mentioned 'going back'. I wonder if that's around where they work and they just got sent to the underground lab."

Holiday ran a quick search, finding a well-known museum in Sacramento for classic Fords. She then ran a search around it for manufacturers of medical equipment and biological engineering, the front they used. She quickly came up with a hit, under a name she knew from Kateri was a "sub-distributer" of Jessup, disgust rolling in her gut when she realized it was one of the biggest sources of medical technology in the country, having equipment and vaccines in almost every state. Thousands of people had drugs that came from them running through their body, and there was no way to know that it was actually just a vaccine or something else.

"It looks like they have an office in Sacramento, run by the founder, Abijah Jessup. They're one of the biggest providers of medical grade equipment in the United States and Canada, and one of the leading companies for mass produced vaccines." Holiday said.

"I know that building." Timothy spoke. "I lived in California before I moved to Pennsylvania. It's a few miles outside the thick of the city, but it's still a pretty high-traffic area. Something tells me they wouldn't take her there."

"No, you're right." Willow chimed in. "If it was me, if this one kid managed to destroy my biggest project and take down my entire digital network, I wouldn't take any chances and I'd keep her as far away from my main building as I could. Can you find other locations for offices besides that one?"

"There's three more, one that was in Phoenix that's been since closed down under the guise of moving locations. That was the one they broke into to steal information from, run by Vasilia Elrich. There's one in Seattle run by Heng Fhan, and one in New York, run by the co-founder of the company, Andreas Bosch." Holiday pulled up images of each one. "It's a start. we'll split them up and each go over them, then rotate them. After that, we can start narrowing them down."

"Give them copies of everything we told you, too." Rex added. "With both outside and inside perspectives, there has to be something."

Holiday nodded. "Let's get to work."

(*)

Rex had been staring at the tablet for what felt like hours. Honestly, it probably had been. Holiday all but pushed him out of the room after a few hours, since they were still going over some of the basic things that Rex already knew about. She told him to at least get dinner, since he hadn't eaten anything that day. He didn't even remember what he ate, grabbing the first thing he saw and not tasting it as he swallowed it down, mind far too focused elsewhere.

They had a team now. A team that was wildly inexperienced on the field, but a team with more drive than anything else Providence could muster up, and a team with more intimate knowledge than anyone else.

Holiday had handed out the little tablets to everyone, synced with all the information she could find and separated into groups for each location. Employment records, old records dug up from public files, backgrounds for all four of the office heads as far back as Holiday could find them. Oddly enough(or perhaps not at all), it was Abijah Jessup himself that had the least information. It went back as far as showing his was from Israel, but had grown up in Jordan, however it didn't have any of his history there. The information came from an old interview, not going farther than to state it was simply where he was from.

The company's co-founder, Andreas Bosch, was German, but had moved to America in his late teens. There were old records showing the college he attended and things of the like, but, much like Jessup, there was little on how the company had started.

Then, there were the two partners, Vasilia Elrich, obviously, and another woman named Heng Fhan. Fhan's background was...interesting. Sort of. Interesting in the sense it didn't seem to exist. Sure, there was plenty of record of her being a business woman in China, but everything was very superficial, and nothing went deeper than her being mentioned, and there was nothing to grasp onto. Striking deals with merging companies, investments, but nothing to give any sort of hint as to what it was she _did._ Everything about her was one big gray spot, but that was the same for the other three as well. The only difference is that it had remained the same when she moved to the US as well to start up the biomedical company.

Honestly, _nothing_ stood out to him. The Phoenix location was out, it had been crawling with Providence agents ever since they returned after the initial rescue mission. He didn't know anything about the other two and she had never mentioned anything about them beyond them simply existing. He'd read paragraph after paragraph of text from the table in the empty dining hall, until they'd long since began to blur together, yet kept going. There had to be _something_.

"Hey."

Rex nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice. He looked up and saw Jordan standing there, hair loose, clad in sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt. Light reflected off her piercings, making them stand out brighter than almost anything else.

"Um, hi." he answered.

"You do know it's two in the morning, right?" she asked, tugging a chair out with her foot and sitting across from him.

"I guess I do now. Why are you up?"

"I could ask you the same thing." she replied, crossing her arms and leaning them on the table. "You know, staring at all that won't do you any good if you don't take a break."

"There's gotta be something I'm missing."

"What was the last thing you read?" she asked, and when he opened his mouth to answer, he found he had nothing to say. "Thought so. It's like cramming for a test, you try to take in too much at once, you won't remember anything. Plus, you're gonna have to sleep at some point."

"It's not that easy. I can't just turn my brain off." he replied, but let the tablet fall flat with a soft _thunk_.

"Believe me, I get it." she said.

"Really." Rex said doubtfully.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You know who I was before I got mixed up with those bastards?" she asked, and he shook his head. "I was a problem kid, I always was. My mother was a lot like Cross, Aarin, whatever. They use last names at boot camp. Anyways, I'm pretty sure I can count on one hand the times I remember her being sober. I barely remember my dad at all, he was never home. They didn't give a fuck about where I was, what I was doing, who I was with. I never touched the drugs with a ten foot pole, but I still did a lot of things I'm not proud of. I have a rap sheet, one that was dragged up when I volunteered here. I almost got turned away, since I ended up in juvie once for vandalism."

"Where are you going with this?" Rex asked. He knew Jordan had become friends with Kateri, but didn't know her particularly well himself, only through observations. She was very loud and aggressive, and it was rare to hear a sentence come out of her mouth that wasn't punctuated with at least one swear. The combination of her tattoos, piercings, haircut and overall personality made her come across as very unapproachable and every bit the person she was describing.

"My point is that, I have my share of problems, too, everyone does. So do you, and I learned the hard way that letting yourself get too wrapped up in them like you're doing right now is only gonna make it harder later. Everyone's done things they aren't proud of, but what matters is what you do with the time you still have. Don't spend that time running yourself into the ground, you're just gonna get yourself killed that way, and you should know that better than anyone. You say you can't turn your brain off, but I don't know that you've tried, because you can't let go of the fact you think you let this happen. It's hard, yeah, it sucks, _yeah_ , but you won't accomplish anything like this. You want to help her? Start by helping yourself, because you won't accomplish shit if you get worn out before you can get to her, then you'll both be fucked."

Rex didn't respond. Part of him wanted to just be irritated, but part of him also knew she was right. As much as he didn't want to admit it, that didn't change the fact he knew she was.

"Alright." He flicked off the power to the tablet, leaving the dim overhead lights as the only source of illumination.

"Atta boy. Go get some sleep and don't get up until at least ten." she said with a wry smile, before standing.

"Jordan?" he called, and she paused, half turning to face him. "Thanks. I needed to hear that."

She nodded. "Everyone can get better. The difference is whether or not you want to."

Ten minutes later, Rex found himself in bed and asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

(*)

It wasn't ten when Rex got up, but nearly noon. Late enough, that Holiday had ended up coming to find him.

"Rex?"

He blinked, rubbing his palm into his eye as he pushed himself upright. "Doc…?"

"Nice of you to join us, Sleeping Beauty." she said, her smile softening. "Glad to see you got some sleep, though."

"Yeah. Got some annoyingly valid advice." he murmured, sitting up.

"One of the cadets mentioned running into you last night. She said I should probably let you sleep, and I couldn't have agreed more. You definitely look better than you did yesterday." she said.

"Not gonna lie, I feel better, too." he said. For the first time in days, it actually felt like he could think clearly.

"That's good. We're meeting up to go over what everyone's got, but the cadet's have to get back to training."

"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Holiday nodded, letting the door swish shut.

Rex sighed, rolling out of his bed. Bobo was still snoring away in his hammock, undisturbed by the noise. The monkey hadn't really been hovering over him much, but Rex could tell his companion had been keeping a closer eye on him. Honestly, he found didn't mind at all. Bobo did nothing to stifle him, but wouldn't let him get too caught up in his own head, either.

Tacos were definitely on him next time.

After throwing on clean clothes and actually brushing his hair for once, Rex made his way to the briefing room they had all commandeered, finding the nine cadets already there, though Alice and Kira were absent.

Jordan glanced up at him, just giving him a small nod before turning back to the table and going back to her soft conversation with Rev.

"We're just comparing notes, right now, so you haven't really missed anything." Holiday told him. "I tried to get into thier systems, but they still seemed to be down after Ema released the virus into it."

"From what she told me, there shouldn't be a system at all. The virus was supposed to consume _everything_ , and once it did that in consumed itself." Rex told her.

"Right, but something like that must have some kind of backup system. The type of virus she released is incredibly destructive, but harmless once it consumes itself, so establishing a new system shouldn't be difficult at all, but it definitely would take some time to get up and running, and could make a difference for a lot of things being put in motion on their end." she said, gesturing to the monitor Jared stood at. Turned out, the teen had a knack for computers, and although he was far from Holiday's level, she was certain he'd pick it up in no time at all.

Even missing and presumed dead, her friends were helping her. Ema's virus could mean the difference of life and death for the archer, if it kept the system down.

"Rex, I also wanted to ask you something." Holiday began. "Kateri mentioned recording several videos on her computer, like a video diary. I think it might be a good idea to go through them all. There's a lot of things she didn't tell us while being employed there, but there's a chance she might have said something in them that could give us a lead."

Rex didn't respond right away. He remembered her reaction when she caught him watching one of them. She was almost...wary. She would open up about what happened in the underground lab, but most of her history with the company was a blur. When Ema took down Jessup's digital network, all of Kateri's own records had gone with it, so only the girl could tell what happened in that time.

He knew a lot of it was her own pride. She had a past that she was ashamed of, and didn't speak of it more than she had to, and even then it was often recounting her own missions as opposed to things about the actual company and others within it. She never spoke of any allies beyond her trio of missing friends.

"I...I don't know." he finally said. "I mean, you could be right, but…"

"Rex, anything could help. The other's don't have to see them, but we have to use everything at our disposal." she told him.

"Yeah, I know, I just-" Rex cut off when the holo screens flickered for a moment, before they faded back into the table.

"What's going on?" Willow asked, pulling her hands back from where she'd been moving around a few if the files on the tabletop before they vanished. Jared also retracted his hands and backed away, looking uncertainly at the screen.

Holiday was at a panel in an instant. "We're being hacked."

"That's possible?" Charlie asked.

"Anything is hackable if you're smart enough." Holiday murmured, her fingers flying over the keys. "but it looks like they aren't to access anything, instead…"

She then stopped and just stepped back, letting the system's defense fall.

"Doc, what are you-" Rex stopped however, when a holo screen popped back up, flickering to life, an image appearing.

" _Hello, Doctor Holiday."_ A man with choppy black hair and glasses appeared on screen. " _I'm a friend of Kateri Blackfeather."_

"Who are you? How do you know her?" Rex asked with wide eyes, but the video spoke over him with no acknowledgement.

" _I apologize for the informality, but this is a pre-recorded message. I have been in minimal contact from Blackfeather over the past couple of days. I was given a series of instructions after my help was requested. I have worked with Blackfeather in the past, so this was not unusual, however, the last thing I was told was to send out several of these videos. I do not know the people I was instructed to send the others to, but from the script I was given, they are allies of hers as well. I have worked with Jessup before under contract. I still have viable access to their current network despite it being non-operational at the moment, and basic clearance to the buildings. I'm currently in another contract with them to help them code the system._

" _I have no loyalties to Jessup. I do not agree with anything about them. Blackfeather and I met out of circumstance two years ago, and have been allies ever since. We have worked together a couple times in between, and I was made aware of her personal agenda with the company._

" _It has been brought to my attention that the recent takedown of the entire digital infrastructure was of her doing, with the help of someone named Salazar. She asked for my help, to take down what remained, and I was instructed to reach out to you._

" _My name is Andrew Raita, and I can help you."_

 **Ooh, who dis? Y'all will find out soon enough. I mentioned I used characters from other stories as side characters, so I can keep names/personalities straight and realistic, and I can safely say there won't be too many more new people bc I'm running out of OCs.**

 **But yeah, I know I cut out other things from the end of this bc of complexity, and I did try to get rid of these people, but I can't for a few reasons I'll be able to show you later.**

 **So yeah, hope you all enjoyed!**


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